Morphological Confetti

 I find this photo interesting.  I was wondering why there was 7UP on the "Colored" side and Coca Cola on the "White" side.  Did African Americans have a choice?  I mean, was there a vote whether African Americans favored 7UP during Jim Crow, or maybe Whites prefered Coca Cola?   Well, it's probably nothing, but it just makes me think.  In fact, the whole separte but (un) equal Jim Crow laws of that time occasionally causes me to go into deep thought.   Baffling? I mean, people were just washing clothes.  Peace~ Photo:   1965 Laundromat in Edenton NC Source:   North Carolina State Archives and The North Carolina Historical Review/Vol LXXVI/Number 1

September 16, 1933 – The Emperor Jones , starring Paul Robeson as Brutus Jones is released by United Artists Film Corporation. It is the first time that an African American is starring in a major Hollywood movie role with whites in supporting roles. Paul Robeson continued to entertain audiences for years after The Emperor Jones with his famous baritone voice.  He was also an human rights activist known all over the world. Ironically, almost two decades before The Emperor Jones, one of United Artist Founders, D.W. Griffith, became famous when he directed and released the controversial film, The Birth of a Nation in 1915. The film depicted African Americans as deceitful, murderous, savages, while he made the Ku Klux Klan the heroes of the film. The film had wide success, but met resistance from the NAACP , who mobilized protest of the film before its release. Sources:   naacp.org, wikipedia, paulrobesonfoundation.org, and blackfacts.com

These are some photos I took on the way to North Carolina two weeks ago. I love taking pictures of cotton. It's part of my heritage and who I am. Many of us (white and black Americans) would like to forget about the not so distant past when African Americans were slaves in this country, but it's difficult for me to forget because my family never completely left the county our ancestors were enslaved in. Therefore, I celebrate the beauty of that heritage in writing, pictures, and song (when I learn how to play an instrument or sing). *smile* I embrace and love that part of me that touches down deep...deep in my soul. Peace~

I got an email yesterday informing me that Paul Robeson Jr. will be speaking at the Prince Georges County Memorial Library in Oxon Hill. I immediately switched all of my plans for the evening. I’ve only seen Mr. Robeson speak once and that was almost 6 years ago. The event was hosted in conjunction with Vertigo Books. Mr. Robeson was there to speak and promote his new book, A Black Way Of Seeing: From “Liberty” To Freedom . I was running late and still on the beltway when I thought the program had already started. The event was scheduled for 7pm, but I was delighted to find out upon arrival that it had been delayed because Mr. Robeson was stuck in traffic. I didn’t miss a thing! There was a scattered crowd of about fifty sitting in the small auditorium when I walked in. I saw that there were available seats in the front so I went straight for one. Mr. Robeson arrived a little past 7:30 and apologized to the crowd for his tardiness. He stated that he didn’t have any excuses, but that he...

In honor of Black History Month I wanted to post a little note that I left on the Roberson Family guestbook. The Roberson family owned my ancestors who were slaves on the Cross Roads Plantation in Martin County, North Carolina. This fact is known because my family never left that region after slavery and still reside there today. As a matter of fact, my grandmother was raised on the same plantation her grandfather worked as a slave. Her great uncle is the late Rev., William Drew Robeson, who is the father of actor, activist, and singer, the late Paul Robeson. This is a part of my history that I continue to study and I am finding out more and more as time goes on. I hope that you will find this as interesting as I did. I wasn't angry at them for their part in history. I just wanted them to know the names of those people who were affected/infected by their part in history. The note: Stephen Bess Tuesday, 12/23/03, 8:07 AM Happy holidays!! I am a descendant of Ezekiel Roberson who wa...