W.(orld)E.(nriching) A.(ctivating)L.(iberating)L.(ove)
B.(eautification)E.(xperience)
An Alternative News and Education Organization To The Other Alternatives.
Associate Professor and department chair in the Department of African-American Studies at Georgia
State University (GSU). At GSU, Umoja is responsible for teaching courses related to the history of people of African descent in Georgia, the Civil Rights Movement and other Black political and social movements, courses on the enslavement of African people in the New World, African religion and philosophy, and 19th and 20th century Black political and social movements.
Dr. Umoja was instrumental in bringing Alfred 'Skip' Robinson to California and also worked with him via his organization the United League of Mississippi on several campaigns in Mississippi...
About Alfred 'Skip' Robinson
“Robinson, who serves as president of the organization he founded, establishes local chapters of the United League upon request by local citizens. In a community requesting help, Robinson holds workshop meetings in each black neighborhood, where problems and needs are identified and strategies planned for addressing them. An ongoing community organization continues to meet after Robinson leaves to guide blacks of the community in resolving problems and meeting needs. Where the Klan is active and discrimination is practiced, the United League advocates demonstrations, business boycotts, and armed self-defense. The policy of armed self-defense has been particularly effective in countering Klan violence against blacks. In those communities where blacks have met Klan force with armed self-defense, the Klan has backed down.”
~Jet May 25, 1978
Tha Artivist Writes:
What do you get when you mix Bishop Henry McNeal Turner, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and Robert F. Williams together???The answer is Alfred ‘Skip’ Robinson…
So how can a gun-toting, handsome, charismatic and dynamic leader with a silver tongue who led a 70,000 member organization (the United League of Mississippi) which effectively took on the Ku Klux Klan and the White Power System in the heart of the Mississippi Delta in the 1970s and 80s be forgotten about by history and by those who he tried to liberate from oppression? How can a person who was an in demand orator and whose courageous exploits (which included shootouts with the KKK, protesting police brutality and effectively boycotting White owned businesses that discriminated against Black folks) headlined major newspapers and who was the subject of dozens of mainstream media interviews and profiles and who won a prestigious internationally recognized award (the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award) for his innovative revolutionary work seemingly vanish from the annals of American Civil Rights Movement and Black Liberation History???
Some 25 plus years after his questionable death by ‘car accident’ (he allegedly ran into the back of a semi-truck on Dec. 18, 1986, on Highway 78 near Holly Springs, MS), W.E. A.L.L. B.E. seeks to answer that as well as resurrect the legacy of this extraordinary human being via his own words and by the words of those who actually worked with him…We are going to revisit his legacy of grassroots activism via his incredible United League of Mississippi and include his prophetic address from the Distinguished Visitors Program lecture at UMass on Nov. 2, 1978, where he accurately addressed concerns that have already come to pass and that we as a people are currently dealing with…
I wasn’t aware of Alfred ‘Skip’ Robinson until July 2011 when I visited the Ida B. Wells Museum in his old stomping grounds of Holly Springs, MS, where I was informed by the volunteer tour guide, Charles Richmond, of this unsung legend…But since that day I could never forget him and neither will you…
W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Needs Your Support...Give To Grow The Movement!
“Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.”
~Zora Neale Hurston (Brainy Quote, 2011)
Kathryn Bentley’s title is associate professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (SIUE). She is also the director of SIUE’s Black Theatre Workshop. She has taught at SIUE for 6 years under her current title and 2 years before as an adjunct professor. Whereas Prof. Bentley is an academic practicing her craft in a traditional accredited institute of higher learning, I am more of a grassroots educational maverick, operating my projects under an incorporated umbrella entity, The W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Group Inc., where I operate as a consultant and community advocate within as well as outside the traditional educational paradigm.
Dr. Aminata Cairo & Prof. Kathryn Bentley
Prof. Bentley has been interested for awhile in exploring the history and tradition of the enslaved African theatre in North America. However, most recently she started research that focuses on a form of theatre done in Suriname, South America, called “Du Theatre” which was originated by slaves. She was introduced to her current research project by Dr. Aminata Cairo. She met Dr. Cairo a few years ago at a mixer for new black faculty. Dr. Cairo’s family is from Suriname, but she was born and raised in the Netherlands. Suriname is a former Dutch colony and was formerly known as Dutch Guyana. She saw this as a golden opportunity because Dr. Cairo told her that there was nothing written in English about the Du Theatre tradition. “I became very interested because I am very interested in the slavery theatre of North America just never thought about the possibility of looking at theatre created by enslaved Africans in South America so last summer (2010) I traveled with her to Suriname and stayed for a few weeks where I was able to do some initial interviews with some of the purveyors of the theatre tradition and I taught some acting classes to some young people” (Cinch, 2011).
After her initial visit, Prof. Bentley took her students to Suriname the next summer. “Over the last 2 years I have been heavily researching this form of theatre and incorporating it into working with my students. This summer I was able to take students with me to Suriname to conduct research and they actually became research assistants and also helped me to bring the research to life by putting on an actual performance of this traditional art form” (Cinch, 2011).
Prof. Bentley with her students
Prof. Bentley realizes that her research and community advocacy approach is rather unorthodox to the traditional function of an academic theatre arts program but she adamantly feels that it is important for her students to not only see themselves as performing artists but also as scholars/intellectuals and community advocates. “I am an artist first that’s my training that’s my background…Fortunately, I was able to discover that I also was a scholar…Typically in liberal arts theatre programs research is not the focus, usually we are training young people to hone their craft to be able to go out and audition to have a career in arts that is more performance based…Because of my background with the arts and having realized through my artistic career there is so many ways to use my artistry as a community artist helping to develop curriculum and also to use it to teach just about anything, I wanted to make sure that I expose my students to the possibilities of using research in their craft and being able to utilize that to find out about different cultures and incorporating that into what they do as artists…I am hopefully opening up my students to a whole other way to look at a degree in theatre” (Cinch, 2011).
However, she is following a very unique tradition within the African American culture canon that has visible roots and origins in the Harlem Renaissance Movement of the first half of the 20th Century…Combining her passion for the performing arts with her appreciation for the empirical scientific process has allowed her to share intellectual and aesthetic kinship with literary genius Zora Neale Hurston and dance genius Katherine Dunham, both of whom had extensive academic pedigrees in the anthropology field of which they used the research methodologies and knowledge gathered from the latter to create and inform their unique individual arts legacies.
Prof. Bentley considers herself as a trendsetter because her research work is contributing to what is now known as multiculturalism. Multiculturalism is the view that the various cultures in a society merit equal respect and scholarly interest (Dictionary.com, 2011). However, working in an area of a country that is prone to insularity and cultural conservatism can have its challenges because people are less prone to venture outside their comfort zone or worldview. However, according to Prof. Bentley the philosophy and ideals of multiculturalism in esoteric terms is wholly different from its actual application (or lack of) in our shared reality. She often asks her students who pretty much see themselves as open-minded and inclusive human beings “when was the last time you actually sat at a different table at lunch with somebody that was not in your ethnic group or your group of friends???”(Cinch, 2011) When she starts “questioning them on that, they start to realize that maybe I am not as cosmopolitan as I thought” (Cinch, 2011).
In conclusion, Prof. Bentley plans to continue her research on the Du Theatre in Suriname and also in the Netherlands where some of the purveyors of this theatre tradition are also located. She plans to present her research at conferences as well as publish a book on her findings after a few years of further research. Through her connections she was able to bring a Du Theatre artist from Suriname as an artist-in-residence for a semester to expose her students even further to the culture of that particular form of theatrical expression. She is also looking forward to bringing theatre students from Suriname to the U.S. to do theatre projects with her students at SIUE.
References
Brainy Quote. (2011). Zora Neale Hurston. Last page update unknown. Last retrieved
We Are Not Afraid The Lost/Found Legacy Of Alfred 'Skip' Robinson
“Robinson, who serves as president of the organization he founded, establishes local chapters of the United League upon request by local citizens. In a community requesting help, Robinson holds workshop meetings in each black neighborhood, where problems and needs are identified and strategies planned for addressing them. An ongoing community organization continues to meet after Robinson leaves to guide blacks of the community in resolving problems and meeting needs. Where the Klan is active and discrimination is practiced, the United League advocates demonstrations, business boycotts, and armed self-defense. The policy of armed self-defense has been particularly effective in countering Klan violence against blacks. In those communities where blacks have met Klan force with armed self-defense, the Klan has backed down.” ~Jet May 25, 1978 Tha Artivist Writes:
What do you get when you mix Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Robert F. Williams together? The answer is Alfred ‘Skip’ Robinson…
So how can a gun-toting, handsome, charismatic and dynamic leader with a silver tongue who led a 70,000 member organization (the United League of Mississippi) which effectively took on the Ku Klux Klan and the White Power System in the heart of the Mississippi Delta in the 1970s and 80s be forgotten about by history and by those who he tried to liberate from oppression??? How can a person who was an in demand orator and whose courageous exploits headlined major newspapers (which included shootouts with the KKK, protesting police brutality and effectively boycotting White owned businesses that discriminated against Black folks) and who was the subject of dozens of mainstream media interviews and profiles and who also won a prestigious internationally recognized award (the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award) for his innovative revolutionary work seemingly vanish from the annals of American Civil Rights Movement and Black Liberation History???
Some 25 plus years after his questionable death by ‘car accident’ (he allegedly ran into the back of a semi-truck on Dec. 18, 1986, on Highway 78 near Holly Springs, MS), W.E. A.L.L. B.E. seeks to answer that as well as resurrect the legacy of this extraordinary human being via his own words and by the words of those who actually worked with him...We are going to revisit his legacy of grassroots activism via his incredible United League of Mississippi and include his prophetic address from the Distinguished Visitors Program lecture at UMass on Nov. 2, 1978, where he accurately addressed concerns that have already come to pass and that we as a people are currently dealing with…
I wasn’t aware of Alfred ‘Skip’ Robinson until July 2011 when I visited the Ida B. Wells Museum in his old stomping grounds of Holly Springs, MS, where I was informed by the volunteer tour guide, Charles Richmond, of this unsung legend…But since that day I could never forget him and neither will you…
Guests
1.) Dr. Akinyele Umoja
Associate Professor and department chair in the Department of
African-American Studies at Georgia State University (GSU). At GSU,
Umoja is responsible for teaching courses related to the history of
people of African descent in Georgia, the Civil Rights Movement and
other Black political and social movements, courses on the enslavement
of African people in the New World, African religion and philosophy, and
19th and 20th century Black political and social movements.
Dr. Umoja was instrumental in bringing Alfred 'Skip' Robinson to California and also worked with him via his organization the United League of Mississippi on several campaigns in Mississippi...
2.) Bro. Charles Richmond
Bro. Charles Richmond is a regular volunteer of the Ida B. Wells Museum and a lifelong resident of Holly Springs, MS....He also participated in several protest marches with Alfred 'Skip' Robinson
and the United League of Mississippi.
W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Needs Your Support...Give To Grow The Movement!
“This past election represents a movement, a new awakening for our people. We can participate in the governing of our own communities and schools. Black folk are breaking away from the ‘plantation mentality’ that has held us in bondage for so long. Things will never be the same in Tunica County.”~The Honorable Judge Louise Linzy
Tha Artivist Writes:
On Thursday Dec. 29, 2011, W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News and R2C2H2 Tha Artivist had the honor of witnessing history being made in living color before an overflowing crowd in the Tunica County Courthouse…After a disappointed and suspicious defeat to longtime incumbent Ellis Darby twice in 2007, Sis. Louise Linzy kept her eyes on the prize and finally claimed her victory…Linzy, who was the first Tunica, Ms woman police officer, achieved another seminal first when she officially became the first woman judge in Tunica County history when she was sworn in as Justice Court Judge for the Southern District…Tunica County is the richest county in Mississippi and home to one of the top 3 largest casino operations in the country…With that said the county is nearly 80% Black but for years the majority lacked proper representation in local government…
With that said this past election cycle has been a historic one with not only the election of Judge Linzy but also the fact that this election saw a majority of African Americans with the exception of one position be chosen in key and influential positions to properly represent and reflect the majority of the county and thus the will of the people…This was a true throwback to the Reconstruction era and before the infamous Mississippi State Constitution of 1890 which disenfranchised the Black vote for decades…This election also saw the election of Steve Chandler to Tunica County School Superintendent….The former Memphis City Schools Principal at the age of 26 became the youngest person ever elected to that position in Mississippi history…Longtime school guidance counselor Rechelle R. Siggers became the first Black woman to be Chancery Court Clerk of Tunica County. Sis. Judge Louise Linzy coined these historic firsts as “The Tunica Trifecta of new leadership.”
W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News was disappointed to find out this story did not get picked up nationally…This proves that there is a need for outlets like W.E. A.L.L. B.E. to give you the news that you can actually use to inspire and empower you…It is important that these stories are not only captured for the moment but also for posterity…You should never be the invisible or marginalized character in the telling of your own story…
W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio pays homage to Sis. Judge Louise Linzy by playing for the first time all the interviews she has done with our program since 2007 when she was first robbed of her victory, her feeling after the second new election that same year where she failed short and finally her most recent interview before the close of 2011 on her confirmed victory (post-swearing in ceremony) the third time around…Sis. Judge Louise Linzy truly embodies the motto, “a setback is a setup for a comeback!”
W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio: A Dream Once Deferred But Now Fulfilled: The Honorable Judge Louise Linzy Story.
The 2007 elections in Tunica County were brutal for Louise Linzy. She took on incumbent Ellis Darby, who had served as Justice Court Judge for the Southern District for nearly two decades.
Plans for a grand celebration were underway in Linzy’s camp because “God had answered the prayers of so many.” But it was not to be.
Six votes gave Darby the win according to the final count. Linzy sat in stunned silence as Darby supporters cheered. Tears of disappointment marked the “death of a dream.” Charges of voter fraud swirled in the African-American community. Linzy filed a legal challenge, and a new election was set for the following December. With nearly half of the county’s registered voters staying home, Darby won again – this time by 83 votes.
Linzy thanked her supporters for their hard work, adding, “I will always keep fighting; I will never give up.”
She kept her word. Four years later, Linzy won her seat on the bench and a coveted place on the pages of Tunica County history. She is the first woman ever elected as Justice Court Judge. Two other African-American candidates also became history-makers with unprecedented victories on August 2.
Rechelle R. Siggers, an educator and guidance counselor in Tunica County Schools, was elected Chancery Court Clerk, the first African-American woman to hold that office. Steve Chandler, a 27-year-old principal in Memphis City Schools, garnered the Democratic nomination for schools superintendent. He will face a Republican and Independent candidate in November. If elected, Chandler would become the youngest schools superintendent in the state’s history.
“You might say we’re a winning combination,” said Linzy. “The Tunica Trifecta of new leadership. This past election represents a movement, a new awakening for our people. We can participate in the governing of our own communities and schools. Black folk are breaking away from the ‘plantation mentality’ that has held us in bondage for so long. Things will never be the same in Tunica County.”
What Sparked This ‘New Awakening?’
Is there really a new awakening from “plantation mentality?” Or, is that some political ploy Linzy used to get more votes?
Nakita Dean, the Tunica County Sheriff’s Director of Public Relations, says Judge-elect Linzy is dead-on.
“I grew up right here in Tunica County. We lived in Sugar Ditch, and I always noticed as a child that white people always lived in the nice houses while black people lived in run-down shacks,” said Dean. “The poverty, social oppression, and racism had kept Tunica County that way for so long. I would hear, ‘Mr. So-and-So has been so good to us ’cause he lets us work on his land for a place to live.’ That was our way of life, and that’s all we knew,” said Dean.
“Whites had everything, and we had nothing. Blacks got the crumbs from their table and happy to have that. I went off to school at Jackson State University. I decided that I would come back home and be a part of the fight for change. We had to return and help educate our people.
“We are a part of a new movement in Tunica County,” said Dean. “A young, educated, middle-class is emerging, and status quo is just not an option any more. Our parents and grandparents sacrificed to give us a good education. We have returned home to give them a better life. All the citizens of Tunica County deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of their education level and occupation.”
Dr. Leslie B. McLemore, executive director of the Fannie Lou Hamer Institute at Jackson State University, blames “ignorance” for the political and social oppression that is “characteristic of Tunica County.”
“Tunica County has been predominantly black since the early 1940’s, said Dr. McLemore. “It has always been that the minority white ruled over the majority black. To the casual observer, it would appear that the majority should have united long ago to elect their own consensus candidates to office. But you have to understand the context of this majority.”
When people have limited exposure to other places and things, there is nothing to which they can compare their way of life, McLemore said.
“White incumbents have continued to dominate the elections because that’s just how life in Mississippi has always been. Of course, you would still get a significant number of African-American voters choosing a white candidate. Judge-elect Linzy’s 29 votes over incumbent Ellis Darby was a landslide.”
The new faction now evident represents a new spirit in Tunica County, he said.
“Political savvy, higher education levels, and desire for social reform and change has made a tremendous difference in how many voters think. Older voters are taking their cues from these younger, more sophisticated thinkers. I believe we witnessed a very significant moment in Tunica County history on August 2.”
Attempts to contact Darby were unsuccessful. County voting officials in Tunica County declined comment.
Prayer Ignited ‘Desire To Serve’
Rechelle R. Siggers has been an educator and guidance counselor in Tunica County Schools for nearly 37 years. She had never run for office or even harbored the desire to enter politics.
“I started thinking about entering the race during the early part of this year,” said Siggers. “But before I did anything, I prayed about it because I really wanted this to be God’s will for my life. When I got a peace about running for court clerk, I discussed it with my family and entered the race. We thank the Lord for this victory.”
Henrietta Hayes has been a polling official in Tunica politics since the 1980’s. God, she says, “has blessed us with a new day.”
“I have seen whites do so many underhanded things,” said Hayes. Linzy’s 2007 loss to Darby was not the first election they stole. There have been many, but God is helping us now. We have always been led along by whites in leadership. But our eyes are opening now. I’m just happy that the Lord let me live to see it.”
W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Needs Your Support...Give To Grow The Movement!
A Dream Once Deferred But Now Fulfilled: The Honorable Judge Louise Linzy Story.
“This past election represents a movement, a new awakening for our
people. We can participate in the governing of our own communities and
schools. Black folk are breaking away from the ‘plantation mentality’
that has held us in bondage for so long. Things will never be the same
in Tunica County.”
~The Honorable Judge Louise Linzy
Tha Artivist Writes:
On Thursday Dec. 29, 2011, W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News and R2C2H2 Tha
Artivist had the honor of witnessing history being made in living color
before an overflowing crowd in the Tunica County Courthouse…After a
disappointed and suspicious defeat to longtime incumbent Ellis Darby
twice in 2007, Sis. Louise Linzy kept her eyes on the prize and finally
claimed her victory…Linzy, who was the first Tunica, Ms woman police
officer, achieved another seminal first when she officially became the
first woman judge in Tunica County history when she was sworn in as
Justice Court Judge for the Southern District…Tunica County is the
richest county in Mississippi and home to one of the top 3 largest
casino operations in the country…With that said the county is nearly 80%
Black but for years the majority lacked proper representation in local
government…
With that said this past election cycle has
been a historic one with not only the election of Judge Linzy but also
the fact that this election saw a majority of African Americans with the
exception of one position be chosen in key and influential positions to
properly represent and reflect the majority of the county and thus the
will of the people…This was a true throwback to the Reconstruction era
and before the infamous Mississippi State Constitution of 1890 which
disenfranchised the Black vote for decades…This election also saw the
election of Steve Chandler to Tunica County School Superintendent….The
former Memphis City Schools Principal at the age of 26 became the
youngest person ever elected to that position in Mississippi
history…Longtime school guidance counselor Rechelle R. Siggers became
the first Black woman to be Chancery Court Clerk of Tunica County.
Sis. Judge Louise Linzy coined these historic firsts as “The Tunica Trifecta
of new leadership.”
W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News was disappointed to find out this story
did not get picked up nationally…This proves that there is a need for
outlets like W.E. A.L.L. B.E. to give you the news that you can actually
use to inform, inspire and empower you…It is important that these stories are
not only captured for the moment but also for posterity…You should never
be the invisible or marginalized character in the telling of your own
story…
W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio pays homage to Sis. Judge Louise Linzy by playing
for the first time all the interviews she has done with our program
since 2007 when she was first robbed of her victory, her feeling after
the second new election that same year where she failed short and
finally her most recent interview before the close of 2011 on her
confirmed victory (post-swearing in ceremony) the third time around…Sis.
Judge Louise Linzy truly embodies the motto, “a setback is a setup for a
comeback!”
