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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 26, 2012)
Arts & Entertainment The Courage to Hope ‘Master Harold...’ By Kam Williams Special To The Skanner News “I n the summer of 2010, Shirley Sherrod was cata- pulted into a media storm that blew apart her life… A right-wing blogger dis- seminated a video clip of a speech she had given to the Georgia NAACP… The media ramped up the outrage and, before Sherrod had a chance to defend herself, the Obama administration demanded her resignation. Then, after hearing… the entire speech, public offi- cials and media professionals admitted to being duped and apologized for their rush to judgment... The Courage to Hope addresses this regrettable episode but also tells Sher- rod’s own story of growing her heartfelt remarks in that speech delivered to the NAACP were exactly the opposite. In the address, she spoke about how she had overcome the bitterness she’d felt about the South (including the murder of her own father by a white man never brought to justice) to the point that she became willing to help poor folks of any color. Furthermore, she was summarily fired on the spot by her boss without being given an opportunity to defend herself. In the end, the truth did come out, affording the country a very-valuable teachable moment about innocence until proven guilty when the unfairly accused was ulti- mately exonerated. Sherrod finally gets to set the record straight in The Courage to Hope, a poignant half-autobiogra- phy/half-tale of redemption. Not only does the moving memoir address the infa- mous incident which thrust the author into the limelight but, perhaps more impor- tantly, it recounts a life story which reveals her to be a real role model well worthy of admiration and emula- tion. JAMIE BOSWORTH PHOTOGRAPHER How I Stood Up to the Politics of Fear Profile Theatre opens its 16th season with Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold…and the Boys,” running Oct. 3 – 28. The three-man tour-de-force features the talents of Garfield Wedderburn, Sam Benedict and Bobby Bermea (above, from left), and is directed by Jane Unger. Profile Theater, located at 3430 SE Belmont St., is dedicating its entire season to Fugard, a native of South Africa and one of the most respected living playwrights. In the end, the truth did come out, affording the country a very-valuable teachable moment about innocence until proven guilty when the unfairly accused was ultimately exonerated. up in Georgia during the violent years of Jim Crow when her father was mur- dered by a white neighbor who was never brought to justice.” — Excerpted from the Inside Book Jacket. A couple of years ago, arch-conservative Andrew Breitbart (since deceased) launched a character assas- sination on Shirley Sherrod which almost cost the then U.S.D.A. State Director her career while temporarily ruining her reputation. For, he had posted on his website a video edited to make Ms. Sherrod appear to be an unrepentant bigot against Caucasians. Truth be told, the tenor of However, Breitbart’s mis- leading video quoted Ms. Sherod out of context, mak- ing no mention of her having made an emotional breakthrough. Instead, it was deliberately designed to leave viewers with the impression that she was an inveterate racist. Sadly, the clip went viral and soon not only right- wing pundits but even presumably sympathetic colleagues ranging from NAACP President Ben Jeal- ous to officials in the Obama administration began calling for the poor woman’s head. Sherrod was publicly humiliated in the national press as if the poster child for racial intolerance. September 26, 2012 The Portland Skanner Page 7
