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D E C . 17, 1997
Page B J
Has Ever Such African Dignity, Spirit And
Courage Been Captured In a Painting?
B y P rof . M c K inley B urt
We refer io die “masterful IS4O por
trait of Joseph Cinque", leader of the
Amistad Revolt’; aclassic reproducuon
appears on page 120 of the December
1997 "Smithsonian Magazine", part of
an excellent article.
Seldom have I recom m ended a
movie not yet seen but in this case I
relied on the well-known integrity ol
producer, Debbie Allen, and the opin
ion of Dr. Russell A dam s o f the
Howard University African American
History Department - an invitee to a
pre-public showing. Nobody, but no
body, has voiced disappointm ent in
the film.
Dr. Adams, with whom I am in
contact today, stated on N BC Televi
sion this past Sunday that he "rates the
film 9 1 % accurate”,especially the role
o f former President, John Q uincy
Adams. An exception would be the
scene where Morgan Freem an and
Adams are shown riding together in
the carriage; definitely a social non-
no' even in the North at that time. For
meritous reading, A dam s cites “Black
M utiny”, and "History o f the Amistad
Affair.”
That first title prom pts me to re visit
that semantic exercise I introduced
last week. A "m utiny” is a breach o f an
em ployment contract effected by free
men who have signed up (promised)
to perform a service for a valuable
consideration. I learned that in my first
year of law school where several of the
students here were seamen. Slaves
"revolt”, for there is no contract, real
or implied, and their duress is forced -
against their will.
A ’sister’ who is a secretary at a
downtown law firm has posted a pho
tocopy o f my ‘A m istad’ article on the
office bulletin board where it elicited
quite a bit of interest. A partner in the
firm is sending me excerpts from that
m aritim ecode which covers such situ
ations. Also, there was great general
interest from readers in all walks ot
life. "W hites are not willing to grant us
the guts to revolt.”
During Black History Month (and
before) I will present many more au
thenticated annals of African and A f
rican A merican seafarers, shipbuild
ers andexplorers. The uninitiated may
ease their shock at A merican revela
tions by obtaining a copy o f “Black
Jacks: African American Seaman in
the Age of Sail", W. Jeffrey Bolster,
Harvard University Press, 1997.
And of course, I well have much
more docum ented evidence of black
maritime involvement as shipmasters,
officers and adventurers from 3000
years ago, through the Middle Ages,
material from the son of Thor Hyerdahl
( Kon-Tiki), to a personal account from
the A frican A m erican w ho sailed
around the world alone in 1995 - get
ting a resounding reception in New
York Harbor, but little notice from the
educationists whom you w ouldexpect
to leap at this opportunity to motivate
black kids in science and technology.
W ho are these slave-minded gate keep
ers? The m an should have been at
every inner city school.
Also, I will have updated inform a
tion on the A fricans who sailed and
traded in the Caribbean and along the
W est Coast of M exico, centuries b e
fore Colum bus, Portuguese and Span
ish explorers. Both Lerone Bennett,
“Before The M ayflow er" and Ivan
Van Sertima, "They Cam e Before
C olum bus" describe the African arti
facts from fools and weapons to stat
ues with Af rican features that appeared
in the region before the tenth—century
A.D. the racists hate to adm it black
sailors and genes went all over.
C ontinued
from front .
children live in a car (even it she
has a job), they are calling her self
sufficient’.”
W eed said she was treated pcxirly
by case w orkers w hen she w anted
to return to school and becom e
more em ployable, yet keep her chil
dren on welfare until graduating
Lakita L ogan, a teen m other,
was denied welfare and told to live
with her parents and to w ork rather
than college. She accused co rp o ra
tions o f supporting a system w hich
provides "cheap labor by keeping
us uneducated and inadequately
trained ”
“T hey said I was m arketable and
couldn’t receive benefits if in school
rather than on a low paying jo b ,"
said Joy Fauth, who was pressured
to (unsuccessfully) look for work
for two years. "I could have had my
bachelor’s degree by now and be
self sufficient.”
She noted people may find low
incom e jobs, get o il w elfare rolls,
and not have adequate resources
for health care, child care and ed u
cation.
Several teenage girls from S is
ters in Portland Im pacting Real Is
sue T ogether (Sprint) shared rel
evant ideas.
"W o m e n a n d g ir ls h a v e a
r ig h t to an e d u c a t io n ," s a id
A m o u r ie D o w n i n g , 1 2 , o f
T u b m a n M id d le S c h o o l. C l a s s
m a te A le x i s D o w n in g , 13,
ad d e d the rig h t " to w o rk an d
re c e iv e s u b s ta n tia l liv in g
w a g e s.”
C adis W illiam son, 11, also from
Tubm an, said, “C asew orkers don ’ t
sit down and talk to you about how
we can he self-sufficient. C lass
mate Shereese Alexander, 13, talked
about (he high percentage ot fem ale
headed fam ilies w ith children who
had incom e below the federal pov
erty line
"The w elfare system d o esn ’t ad
dress the issues or root causes of
w elfare," said N eedra C onner. 12,
o f O ckley G reen M iddle School.
“W om en and girls have the right
to adequate housing," said T yesha
James, a seventh grader at Fern wood
M iddle School.
C lassm ate Shaneva Jackson, 12,
declared "It should be a right to
have econom ic ch o ices.”
"People believe we d o n ’t care
that they have problem s and that is
not true," said Nancy M agill, OPEU
m em ber and case worker. "W e write
separate plans for individual people.
1 am a union w orker w ho feels
strongly about fair w ages."
“C om panies com plain there is a
lack o f local qualified w orkers for
certain jo b s," said State Rep. M ike
Fahey, who noted m any qualified
w orkers are "im p o rted ’, w hen O r
egonians could be trained to I
those positions instead of rem ain
ing on welfare.
Fahey noted the failure o f the
state prison system w hich "teaches
inm ates to m ake beautiful furniture
an d cab in els, then tails to lollow up
and track their cases to find them
living w ages.”
"If we had living w agejobs, many
of these people probably w o u ld n 't
be there (jail) in the first place," lie-
added. Fahey is a candidate O regon
L abor C om m issioner.
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