Ancestral Collage: Dr. Timuel D. Black. Jr.,
By Dr. Gloria J. Latimore-Peace
Presented by Omni Virtual University
I was prompted to write these introductory remarks by the various "tributes" that were being paid to our beloved Dr. Timuel D. Black, Jr, Maa Kheru, aqwho joined the Ancestors in mid-October of 2022. A song recorded by Gladys Knight and the Pips has a line in it that begins, " If anyone should ever write my life story…"[1]. Each of the TV renderings that I viewed attempted to summarize his "life story" via excerpts of edited interviews with him which they customized to suit their premeditated objectives.
Dr. Black reiterates the story, told to him by his father, of a Black man who was first lynched, then burned, and whose bones were subsequently sold for souvenirs . However, to let the Media tell it, it was not until ,as a member of the armed services, he was shipped to Europe and encountered the place where the victims of the Holocaust were "systematically burned to death," that his desire "to make the world a better place" took hold. This appears to be a deliberate misinterpretation- not only of the facts but also of the stories he, himself, told about his own life.
His father was a “race man” who took him to see The Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey; His parents- and countless other Black families- left the South to escape the terror and lynchings that they were experiencing and migrated to Chicago despite the fact that there was a bloody [white]"race riot" going on there at that time. He, himself, served America in a segregated military during World War II, where Black men were forced to submit to all kinds of slander and abuse. Yet, we are expected to believe that these real-life experiences had no impact on his perspective - that his consciousness lay dormant until he saw the Internment camp in Europe. And what is even more incredible is that viewing the remains of Buchenwald resulted only in a generalized determination "to make the world a better place."
One could easily get the notion- from the Media and other American institutions- that only the Founding Fathers concerned themselves with Liberty and Justice. The interests of the rest of us, especially Black and poor people, is ,reportedly, just that the world become an undefined "better place."
QFreedom, Justice, and Liberation from Oppression have always been and will forever remain the goals of CONSCIOUS Black People and People of color- especially for those of us with whom Timuel Black worked in Chicago Independent politics: Brenetta Howell Barrett; Bennett J. Johnson, myself, Gloria J. Carter (Latimore-Peace) and others- most notably our Ancestors: (1)
The Honorable Congressman Agustus "Gus" Savage, Maa Kheru;
Atty. Lemuel Bentley, Maa Kheru;
Albert Janney, Maa Kheru;
Olavenia Jackson, Maa Kheru;
Luster Jackson, Maa Kheru;
The Honorable Judge James Walton, Maa Kheru;
Atty. Lawrence E. Kennon, Maa Kheru;
Author Cromwell Gilbert, Maa Kheru
Lucy "Jean"Lewis, Maa Kheru;
Dr. Margaret T.G Burroughs, Maa Kheru;
The Honorable Mayor Harold Washington,
Maa Kheru; et al.
For Ancestor Timuel D. Black, Jr., working for "Freedom, Justice and Liberation from Oppression" meant" doing the best [he] could every day."
To paraphrase our earlier point, "If anyone should ever write [your] life story, you'd better pray that it will be written by someone whose life and history was intertwined with yours and who shared your perspective. Otherwise, falsehoods may be inserted, "between each line of pain and glory," that may turn facts into fiction and result in the perpetuation of the "character assassination"- which continues to be among the worst things that ever happened to you as well as to Us as a people. A LutaContinua/ The Struggle Continues.“
Support The Timuel D. Black Education Foundation, The Jazz Institute of Chicago, and Uniting Voices.
Blognote:
[1] "The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me" by Jim Weatherly
Recommended Readings:
Dr. Timuel D. Black, Jr.: Bridges of Memory: Chicago's First Wave of Black Migration. Bridges of Memory, Volume 2: Chicago's Second Generation of Black Migration, An Oral History. Writers in the Library
Sacred Ground: The Chicago Streets of Timuel Black: as told to Susan Klonski and edited by Bart Shultz. Dempsey J. Travis. An Autobiography of Black Politics.
Recommended Viewing
History According to Black", Featuring: Ancestor Dr Timuel D. Black,Jr.
"Black Political Empowerment: A Reality Check" Featuring: Ancestor Dr. Timuel D. Black, Jr., Maa Kheru, and Prof. Robert T. Starks
"Summer in Chicago:Winter in America". Featuring: Barbara Allen.
Blognotes:
[1] "The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me" by Jim Weatherly
Recommended Readings:
Dr. Timuel D. Black, Jr.:
Bridges of Memory: Chicago's First Wave of Black Migration.
Bridges of Memory, Volume 2: Chicago's Second Generation of Black Migration, An Oral History.
Writers in the Library
Sacred Ground: The Chicago Streets of Timuel Black: as told to Susan Klonski and edited by Bart Shultz.
Dempsey J. Travis. An Autobiography of Black Politics.
"Winter in America" by Ancestor Gil Scott Heron & Brian Jackson
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