“It’s the truth that they all look for
The one thing they must keep alive.”
Los Lobos. “Will the
Wolf Survive?”
Los Lobos is celebrating its fortieth anniversary
by playing this weekend at Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneertown CA and releasing
a live album in October.
Alissa planned a “Global Games” event for
international students and others at Grand Valley State. Among the replies were remarks by Wayne
Shih-Wei Hsieh (“Hell yeah! I will be there”), TJ Ramnarine (“Cricket!
Rally!!!”), and Tania Carter (“Kabaddi?!!
No way”). At first I thought the
event had to do with global board games, such as Risk and Diplomacy, both
former favorites of mine.
After chatting with Chicago Circle grad student
Julia Berkowitz in the Archives about the District 31 Women’s Caucus, I
introduced her at lunch to Anne Balay, whose forthcoming book “Steel Closets”
she expressed interest in. Julia first
learned about the Caucus from Mary Margaret Fonow’s “Union Women: Forging
Feminism in the United Steelworkers of America,” whose relevant chapter
entitled, “Making Waves,” opens with this quote from Dorreen Carey, taken from
a Caucus Bulletin she edited: “We all know the story ‘The Emperor’s New
Clothes,’ where everybody was tricked into believing the Emperor was wearing a
new suit of clothes when he was actually naked.
We have the opposite problem with discrimination – everybody can see it
plain as day, but the company keeps insisting that it isn’t there. Moreover, they seem to be able to convince
others – namely the government and some of our union officials – that they
can’t see it either.” Fonow footnotes
my 1996 International Oral History Association conference Proceedings article, “Feminism, Radicalism, and Unionism: The
Calumet District Women’s Caucus and Its Fight against Sex Discrimination in
American Steel Mills,” as well as my recorded interviews with Robin Rich and
Ola Kennedy. After Fonow did research in the Archives, she gave Steve Xerox
copies of many materials she came across.
Former student Terry Helton left a job caring for
elderly folks in Ennis, Montana, for a facility in Helena but hated the
managers and the city (“Hell Town,” he called it) and now works in Townsend
(population 1,878 in 2010). He plans to
enroll in an online paralegal training program.
Taylor Branch’s “The Clinton Tapes” recounts the President
jousting with legislators opposed to his implementing a campaign promise to end
discrimination against gays and lesbians in the armed forces in January of 1993,
shortly after taking office. West
Virginia Senator Robert Byrd cited Roman historian Suetonius’ assertion that
Julius Caesar never lived down a youthful tryst with King Nicomedes of Bithynia
(in modern Turkey). Wags mocked Caesar as “every
woman’s man and every man’s woman.” Clinton
countered Byrd’s belief that homosexuality eroded the nation’s moral fiber, was
sinful, and went against the Bible by replying that it didn’t even make the “top-ten list of sins,” unlike adultery
and bearing false witness.” Byrd was
unmoved, and Clinton ultimately settled for a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
On “Morning Joe” Richard Moe discussed his new
book “Roosevelt’s Second Act: The Election of 1940 and the Politics of War.” FDR would have left office after two terms had
Germany not started WW II by invading Poland in 1939. Cagey as always, he did not reveal his
intentions until the Democratic convention and then tried to make it seem that
he was simply responding to a draft on the part of delegates. The two other frontrunners, John Nance Garner
and Jim Farley, would have been disasters, and had FDR not run, Republican
Wendell Wilkie probably would have been elected.
John McCain is ridiculing President Obama for
trusting Vladimir Putin to pressure Assad into getting rid of chemical
weapons. Thanks heavens the Arizona
Senator, not the brightest light in the harbor, is not in the White House
playing global games with no regard for the consequences. As Josh Leffingwell posted, “When can we begin to feel sorry for this
old man?” Darcey Wade commented: “I can’t figure why the Sunday morning
shows still think he is relevant! And
really, who could respect a man who picked Sarah Palin [as his running mate]?”
About 60 patrons waited a half hour at the AMC
Showplace in Hobart for “Prisoners” to start.
A young man thanked us for our patience, said the movie would start in a
couple minutes, and gave everyone free re-admit passes. While the torture scenes were gratuitous, Hugh
Jackman was convincing as one whose daughter has been kidnapped. Melissa Leo once again demonstrated her
versatility.
I convinced the Palestinian owner of 4 Brothers
Market to let us hang Camilo Vergara’s Martin Luther King prints of murals at
his establishment on Twenty-first Avenue so long as he was not responsible for
any damage. A customer offered to buy
the one I had with me, and an African-American employe warned that “they’d walk away” if we didn’t keep a
close eye on them. When I showed him a
photo of the store in Vergara’s “The New American Ghetto,” he quipped, “Oh, we’re in the ghetto here.” Back by the meat department, a woman
screamed that a customer was drinking out of an open whiskey bottle. An argument ensued, but the owner diffused
the situation.
Steve Buscemi directed the “Sopranos” episode
“Pine Barrens.” Annabella Sciorra, who
shined in Spike Lee’s “Jungle Fever,” plays a seemingly successful but troubled
woman who becomes Tony’s new love interest.
Driving to a remote part of Jersey to get rid of a body, Chris and
Paulie argue over whether to stop for food and eventually realize they are in
for unexpected problems. The scene
resembles the “Fargo” banter between Buscemi’s character Carl Showalter and
Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare). When
Chris says, “We shoulda stopped at Roy Rogers,”
Paulie replies, “Yeah and I shoulda
fucked Dale Evans but I didn’t.” Later,
lost in the woods and freezing, Paulie says, “First place I’m hittin’ is Denny’s.” Chris chimes in, “I know. Get like 5 of those
Grand Slam breakfasts.”
Friday evening at the Grant Theatre, a former
nightclub at 3850 Broadway, I attended an open mike night featuring music and
poetry. One young man concluded his
composition with the words, “I’m not a
Negro, I’m African American.”
Earlier in the day Samuel A, Love had installed the Vergara prints, and
young photographer Dahvide Johnson promised to send me jpegs of the evening’s
events. Frederic and Blandine
interviewed several people before taking off for the Roosevelt High School
football game. Earlier they briefly spoke
to Mayor Freeman-Wilson at the unveiling of a historical marker at Fifth and
Broadway commemorating the Gary and Interurban streetcars in operation a
hundred years ago, linking the city with other Region cities, including
Hammond, Crown Point, Chesterton and Valparaiso. The Post-Trib’s
Carole Carlson wrote: “At the height of
ridership, fares were 8 cents and the streetcars carried more than 50,000
passengers daily over 100 miles of track.”
Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson and Trayvon Young at marker ceremony; P-T photo by Carole Carlson
Saturday morning WXRT focused on 1984. I heard Joe Jackson’s “Happy Ending” and Elvis
Costello’s “The Only Flame in Town,” as well as Los Lobos. Twenty-nine years ago, the Soviet Union
boycotted the global Olympic games in L.A. in retaliation for our
nonparticipation in the 1980 Russian games.
In other global news there was famine in Ethiopia, turbulence in India
following the assassination of Indira Gandhi, and Great Britain agreed to
return Honk Kong to China 13 years hence.
Gary parade participants; photo by Samuel A. Love
Driving down Broadway to the Urban Farm and
Gardens harvest event at the former site of Stewart House, I came across a Gary
schools parade. The Soul Steppers were
so spectacular I followed them for a couple blocks. Community leader Ron Matlock was on a float, and
kids threw bubblegum and skittles by my feet.
I recall my first Gary parade 40 years ago and my sons almost coming
dangerously close to motorcyclists retrieving candy. While enjoying free food at the urban garden,
I observed a half-dozen urban cowboys on horseback riding up Massachusetts
Street. Samuel A. Love and Corey Hagelberg
had installed the Camilo Vergara photos nearby and Sam introduced me to
cerebral math teacher Walter Jones, who had attended pre-school at the
settlement house. I bought an Urban
garden t-shirt from volunteer Sandy Rodriguez.
On the drive home I stopped at Porter beach at
the end of Waverly Avenue. A brisk north
wind produced high waves. Some seagulls
were hunkered down in the sand while others snapped up food as waves receded
from the shore. A Latino family having
their picture taken stood on the shoreline with their backs to the water and
squealed every time water reached their feet.
Back home Toni made soft soup using onions, potatoes, and homegrown
sorrel.
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