this day is gray
with truths
written by
the long dead
buried beneath
official
standardized
education
curriculum
voices of a people’s
history of the
United States,
Zinn’s collection
of grim gray truths
wages peace
inside my head
grim gray truths
beyond any
nightmare
genocides
enslavements
tortures
and wars
to feed the
immortal Gods
of greed
grim gray truths
like these
make me
feel like
ripping
the white skin
from my body
in shame
* * * * * * *
BOOK REVIEW
I’m reading from “Voices of a People’s History of the United States”. This book is a collection of essays and letters from ordinary people. It contains viewpoints hidden beneath the official news and histories that have been fed us through the filter funnels of standardized curriculum and the corporate-owned media.
Every letter and essay I’ve read so far in his book is a wake-up call. Two chapters stick in my mind this morning.
Chapter one of Howard Zinn’s collection begins with pages from the ship’s journal of Christopher Columbus. Columbus led a crew of prisoners in his search for gold and a new route to precious spices.
Zinn’s book delivers a different view from the one I learned in school. I was raised near Columbus, Ohio on stories that glorified his brave voyage and discovery of America. I was lead to believe that there were only a few inconsequential inhabitants in this new world.
In 1492, Columbus described the islanders in his ship’s log. He said they were well-formed and naked, generous and peaceful. The islands were crowded. They had little but wanted little.
White Europeans worked these islanders to death in futile gold mines, carried them away to sell as slaves and hunted them down to kill them like flightless birds. It was thought to be inconvenient that these people didn’t hold up well as slaves. Fifty years of Spanish “settlement” left the islands as barren deserts and effected the genocide of 15 million people.
I was also struck by the historical documents in Chapter 7 on Indian Removal. I was raised to believe the east coast was an empty forest awaiting settlers and that western wild Indians were defeated by brave soldiers to keep pioneers safe from harm.
In 1838, the US militia force-marched the Cherokee nation, women and babies, old and young, from their Georgia homeland. They lacked shoes, blankets and shelter for a journey that lasted a year. One bilingual Cherokee/English private recorded the truth of this march for us. Pleas for protection from the independent Cherokee nation, our former military ally, were brought to President Jackson by Chief Junaluska in 1830. This brave Cherokee had saved the life of Jackson in battle. “There’s nothing I can do for you,” said President Jackson. The “Trail of Tears” is a thousand mile long path marked by four thousand Cherokee deaths.
Zinn’s collection contains historical records of more than one kind of American slavery, first-person reports from war zones and stories of modern protest movements. These voices provide important alternatives to that which passes for news reporting and history lessons in America.
I have no idea if I’ll have to courage to read the whole thing.
* * * * * * *
Thanks for reading.
Alice de Saavedra Keys
Provocative, strong write!
Thanks Wabi. I aim to provoke.;-)
But really. It’s the result of strong reading.
Oh Alice….
“make me
feel like
ripping
the white skin
from my body
in shame”
Indeed, indeed. And yes, it does take courage to read such things. Like looking in the mirror at a face made monstrously ugly by our own actions and, more importantly, inactions.
If you haven’t already, you should check out these two:
http://thesandcounty.wordpress.com/
http://everydaygurus.com/
I feel that many of us are finding our way to the same page. We may not all be on it yet, but we’e getting there. This would make a great Post for Peace a la Kozo’s Bloggers for Peace.
Take care–
JohnnyCC,
Yes, I follow Jeremy at thesandcounty. He and I’ve had some good “talks” through our blogs. I’ve need to go back and re-visit everydaygurus.
Even if the guilt is only in the skin one must deal with it. So many of the genocides of the world has been perpetrated by white-skinned folks. After a lifetime of believing what I’ve been taught, reading the points of view of others is harsh.
Thanks for your support of my writing.
Figured you already knew of them but thought just in case…
Kozo’s current post is on Women’s rights, so for me there is a connection. In my mind at least, the “male” dominated society goes hand-in-hand with the “white” dominated history.
You support my mind with your words so…..we’re even?
JohnnyCC, Thanks for the heads up on the spam filter. It catches a LOT of real spam but also nabs other important messages (for no reason I can tell). I check it every day but not all day.
I will go read Kozo’s post. I think the “male” part is correct, too. I’m so submerged in this male culture I forget to notice. I follow broadblogs.com to try to keep my head from loosing sight of this part.
Were we ever not even?
Much love, my friend. Alice
Aah, touche (insert funny little French accenty thing over final e) mon ami!
Always even.
Sounds like an interesting and important book. Thanks for letting us know about it.
I like it because it’s a collection. You can dip in anywhere. There are poems by Alice Walker and first person narratives by survivors of Hiroshima. I got it from the library.