Notes from a Simple Librarian

Friday, October 11, 2013

Berea College Civil Rights Tour 2013: Tour Day 4, with a brief note on Tour Day 5, the final day of the tour

I continue the blog series here at The Gypsy Librarian with my notes, observations, reflections, and thoughts on my journey in the Berea College Civil Rights Seminar and Tour 2013. This is a way for me to preserve some of what I learned as well as a step in sharing it with others.Today I am covering the fourth day of the seminar and tour, which is the second actual touring day. This took place on August 6, 2013.

Reminder that, as I often do, I will try to type out notes directly. Any additional comments I make I will put in parenthesis (or try to distinguish from just straight notes). Quotes will be in quotation marks with attribution (if I managed to catch the name of source or it was available). If any other participants read this and wish to add or make corrections, etc., their comments are welcome. So are comments from anyone else (as long as you follow my usual rules of good behavior. I will not tolerate any form of bullying, intimidation, rudeness, etc. Such will simply be deleted). I will also add links from various sources as needed to expand on my notes or add further information that may not be clear from just my notes, or just for my own reference.

# # #

Today is our last day of activity. Tomorrow (August 7, 2013) we will make the journey back home to Berea. Time has gone fast, and I have learned so much. Listening to Ms. Joanne yesterday, I felt like I saw living history. A question came up: what will happen when those of her generation are gone? Will the story be told? I would like to think yes. Will young generations pick up the baton and run with it? I am not as optimistic about that. I think our Berea College graduates likely will given their education, but elsewhere, I am honestly not so sure.

People like Joanne were so young when they marched and took action. We call them heroes now, deservedly so, but back then they just saw injustice, felt it, lived it, and acted. They were very afraid, but they took fear head on.

We travel next to Memphis, Tennessee.

On the way to Memphis, we watch the documentary "Roads to Memphis." Keep in mind that Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis. The killing speaks to how dangerous the U.S. was at the time.
In 1967, George Wallace ran a 3rd party campaign for the U.S. Presidency. On a curious historical note, James Earl Ray volunteered to work for the campaign.
By the late 1960s, Dr. King was taking on systemic poverty. He was planning a new march to Washington D.C. in 1967 to call for work on poverty. This kind of talk was clearly a threat to whites and the privileged. Even J. Edgar Hoover had a vendetta against Dr. King, directing FBI surveillance and harassment.
In 1968, Dr. King went to Memphis to help sanitation workers striking for better work conditions and pay.

Today was my day to do journaling in the group journal. This gave me a moment to reflect and share some thoughts on this experience with the group (aside from this blog, which I have no idea who besides my four readers would be reading). Over the journey, we have taken turns writing our thoughts and reflections in a group journal, which will serve as a record of the group's journey.
There is so much evidence of poverty in Memphis as we ride through the town. (If I recall, Jesus had some line about the poor always being with us. Turns out the line people often use is Matthew 26:11. But Jesus also had a lot to say, tasking his believers to help the poor like Luke 12: 23; Luke 6: 20-23 among other verses. As a heathen myself, I wonder how people call themselves Christian and so easily dismiss the poor and show no sense of compassion and social justice. Religion and churches may have inspired the movement, but people still had to have the basic decency, empathy, and compassion to act. If nothing else, as a heathen, I can see, even in this journey, how both folks like Dr. King and George Wallace could take their positions and call themselves "Christian." You need more than a book of scripture to be a decent human being. It comes from inside, and it comes from education and eradicating ignorance. So many ills come from ignorance and fear.)

Our tour of Memphis. There, Ms. Elaine Turner is our hostess to guide us in the city. (As before, I have photos with additional notes which I will try to share later.)

We begin from Clayborn Temple, the place from where Dr. King led his last march in Memphis.
Residents of Memphis might wonder why Dr. King was killed here. We come to realize it could have happened anywhere.
Churches serve as places of refuge for the movement.
Other landmarks we see:

R.S. Lewis Funeral Home, where Dr. King was laid in estate.
Robert Church Park, the first park in the city for blacks.
First Baptist Beale Street Church, which was built by former slaves.
W.C. Handy's home. He is known as "Father of the Blues." The Blues is the first documented music art of the United States. Handy did not claim to invent it; he wrote the notes down and documented it. See the film St. Louis Blues about his life with Nat King Cole portraying Mr. Handy.
Beale Street. This was the economic center of the black community. It was also a political base: news, political organizations, classes for literacy, churches that often paid the poll taxes for blacks to vote. It was also a cultural center: food, music, the churches, so on. On this street, blacks could do what they could not do on main street.
Adams Avenue: where the slave markets were located. Factoid: Nathan Bedford Forrest made his fortune selling slaves here.

Burkle House: Undergound Railroad Museum.

The museum addresses slavery as a topic as well as the slave history of the city.
The Atlantic Ocean is the largest cemetery in the world due to the Middle Passage.
Memphis was a big cotton trading center. "King Cotton."
The slaves, being illiterate, learned various codes for escaping. Quilts from friendly homes gave hints and signals of safety for slaves running away. Slaves also learned to listen. For them, music was a way to communicate. The spirituals served as coded messages to help slaves escape. When the slaves in a plantation sang, the master thought often they were "happy." Often, the slaves were using the music and lyrics to send coded messages for those running away.

Memphis was a segregated city. One library for blacks and the rest of the city's libraries (and other services) for whites. There were book reading sit-ins in the public libraries here (this is something I ought to check on).

The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. This complex includes the locale of the Lorraine Motel where Dr. King was killed.

We saw the documentary "The Witness" featuring Reverend Kyles, who was a witness to Dr. King's killing.
King knew that economics was the next level in the movement: wealth redistribution, closing tax loopholes, etc. (gee, that sounds familiar. Much like today. We've come far, but not far enough. Dr. King would probably have much to say today. As the Rude Pundit writes--bluntly-- Dr. King would fuck conservatives' shit up. He writes that Dr. King-- and I can see this is accurately so--"was an openly socialistic, confrontational radical whose 'I Have a Dream' speech asked for nothing less than a complete elimination of white privilege and the destruction of racial and economic hierarchies." I believe some of his followers living today would concur. A bit of language, but worth reading it in this context. Also go ahead and read Dr. King's speeches. It's all there if you are willing to read it, see it, and learn it.)
King was working on a national poverty campaign at this point in his life. He knew thus that he had to stop in Memphis to help the sanitation workers.
Reverend Kyles on why God put him there as a witness: "a crucifixion has to have a witness." To him, this would be revealed later. King died to help the sanitation workers. "You can kill the dreamer, but you cannot kill the dream. The dream is still alive." (Or to quote a film and graphic novel I admire, "...and ideas are bulletproof.")
"The greatest evil in our country today is not racism, but ignorance. . . We need to be taught to study rather than to believe." -- Septima Poinsette Clark (1898-1987), South Carolina school teacher and civil rights worker.
"We must educate the white people out of their 250 years of slave history." -- Ida. B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931), journalist and co-founder of the NAACP
We get to see the view that James Earl Ray saw when he shot Dr. King. The guy did have a very clear view.
Key reason Dr. King stayed at the Lorraine: it was a "black friendly" hotel. (I am referring to this, see Negro Motorist Green Book.)
By the way, (in the interest of capturing all I saw) outside the museum there was a protester who held a sign seeing the museum as a memorial to the killer. The protester is Jacqueline Smith, and she has a website here. According to the site, she was the last tenant of the Lorraine.

End of day reflection:

Poverty is a striking theme in the cities we visited.
(On our way back, on the bus, there was some conversation/commentary going on the topic of bullying, bullying needing to be addressed in relation to youth. They, whoever it was as I do not recall who now, brought up Columbine as an example of bullying. At that point, I wanted to toss at them a copy of Dave Cullen's book, Columbine, which clearly debunks that idea that the shooters were bullied. Link to my review of the book. Anyhow, it was not a good time to say anything, but I did want to make the note.)
As a librarian, I wondered what kind of programs and support the library can provide to keep this work alive when we get back to Berea. Outreach?

# # #

Brief note on the 5th and final day. This was August 7, 2013. This was our day of travel back to Berea. On the way back, we listened to Dr. King's last speech, which he gave in Memphis. It was a proper way to reflect one more time as we departed to Berea.

(In the end, there are a couple of additional observations that are not making it into the blog but remain in my personal journal that did give me reasons to think and ponder further. With this, this stage of the journey comes to an end. But the journey and the lucha-- struggle-- do continue. The work is not done.)

Wednesday, October 09, 2013

Berea College Civil Rights Tour 2013; Tour Day 3

# # #

It is morning in Montgomery, Alabama. We have dinner last night at a place called Dreamland BBQ. Definitely remembering that so if I ever make it back, to bring the Better Half along. At this point, we are ready to begin a new day.

We had a spontaneous encounter this morning as a man, Rev. Moses William, who was part of the movement, met and knew Dr. King and his wife, met with us at the bus right before we took off. He took some time to give us some inspiration. "When people stay together, we'll change things. Love one another, feed one another." The fellow was at the same hotel we stayed in; he was there for a family reunion, and took a moment to speak to us. This is becoming a common occurrence now of people approaching us during the journey with encouragement when they see us and learn what we are doing.

A small side note for introverts who may be reading this: This is not an easy journey for introverts like us. We are always "on" in this kind of setting, and there is no real downtime. I could use a bit of quiet time to truly reflect, but that may have to wait until after the journey. In the meantime, I am trying to write down as much as I can, seeking to remember lest I forget (and not everything will make it to the blog). I do this for the students I serve and myself.

Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. This church was the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement. Notice that it is next to the Alabama State Capitol, which is the birthplace of the Confederacy; Jefferson Davis was sworn in as president of the Confederacy at the capitol.

An amazing fact: this church has never been been vandalized or bombed (as of this writing, and let us hope it remains that way). Why? Some say it may be divine protection. Others say it is the proximity to the state capitol. Who knows?
Fact: This is the only church where Martin Luther King, Jr. was the senior pastor. From here, he left to lead the movement. Today, the church has about 180 people in its membership rolls, but less than that attend services on Sunday. Yes, it is an active church.
Fact: The baptismal font is under the pulpit. To use it, it requires four men to move the pulpit, then the font is filled with water.
We also visit the parsonage. Our hostess, Ms. Shirley Cherry, there reminds us to keep history authentic. She never wants to forget that she was called "nigger." We should not sterilize history.

Have the courage to stand alone.
Fact: the man who arrested Rosa Parks has visited the parsonage.
The house was bombed during the bus boycott in 1956.
The movement really began with Rev. Vernon Johns, Dr. King's predecessor at the church. Rev. Johns believed that black economic power and autonomy were important for the path to freedom.
Dr. King took over the church next, then moved on to lead the bus boycott.
Small side lesson, on picking a mate, based on Martin and Coretta King: Character, personality, and beauty. Of those three, character is the most important.
Quote: "Everyone is significant on God's keyboard."
According to Martin Luther King, Jr., to be free, you must learn to forgive and then lose your fear of death in order to be free.
When threatening calls came to the house, Dr. King would tell them he would pray for them.
On January 27, 1965, Dr. King had an epiphany at midnight in the house kitchen. He was praying after getting a threatening call telling him to leave town in 3 days. He went on with the ministry and boycott anyhow.
Themes from the garden behind the parsonage: forgiveness, equality, hope, peace, understanding, unity. These are what Rev. Johns and Rev. King preached on.

After leaving the parsonage, Rev. Bowman urges us to tell others. This tour was worth fighting for; I could not agree more.

After lunch at Martha's, we arrive at the Southern Poverty Law Center.

At SPLC, we do have to go through security, empty our pockets, so on. Given that the center is a target of hate groups, this is understandable. Since 1983, 30 individuals have been sent to jail for attempting to blow up the SPLC.
Our speaker, Mark Potok, senior fellow at the center. He works for the center's Intelligence Project, among other tasks.

The center made its reputation suing the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups in civil court. This is based on the crimes of the hate groups' members. The main purpose of the suits is to destroy the groups by draining the them and/or take out their resources and finances. In essence, marginalizing the hate groups.
However, suits over time have lost some effectiveness. This is due to the fact that the leadership of hate groups has learned to keep its violent members, who commit the crimes, at arm's length. The hate groups have gotten smarter and keep violent statements more vague.
Intelligence Project uses journalism, research, and information to go after hate groups.
In fact, by now, racists and hate groups are reading the SPCL magazine. After all, SPCL information is always accurate (this was possibly the best line of his presentation).
The SPCL also collects information, including various publications-- print and electronic--, collects artifacts, of hate groups. This is not only for preservation but also to learn more. Information is power.
The scene now. The SPCL analyzes the radical right and is counting groups; counting individuals is hard given groups often lie about their membership numbers, so counting by groups works better.
Since 2000, there has been growth in hate groups. They dropped some of their other rhetoric to focus on illegal immigration. This is something that has resonated with more racists and bigots.
In 2008, the center (and the nation) started seeing growth of militia and "patriot groups." Those groups have done more violence than other hate groups. McVeigh came from one of these militia groups. What caused the dramatic rise in these groups in 2008? Barrack Obama was elected President of the United States. This event has given hate groups a lot of motivation.
The designation as "hate group" is based on ideology, if they say other groups of people are subhuman, inferior, to be hated, etc. This is part of the SPCL's criteria for their lists.
Another source of information for the SCPL is often hate group members who leave the hate movements. To learn more, see also the documentary Erasing Hate.

We head to Selma, Alabama on the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway. The historic Selma to Montgomery March took place along this highway.

At Selma, Ms. Joanne Bland is our hostess and guide. At the National Park Service interpretive center, we watch the video "Never Lose Sight of Freedom." We return to the theme of younger people not voting, let alone remembering.
It is important for young people to learn the history.
Bloody Sunday did not just stop at the bridge. The police did follow and beat up marchers right up to their churches.
The 1965 Voting Rights Act was bought with the blood of martyrs.
(I am not afraid people will forget. I fear people will not care, that they will become complacent). "Each generation needs to be committed to the concept of freedom." The struggle is not over yet. (Yet I fear whether new generations will pick it up or not)
Selma has changed. There are various successful black people here, but there is still so much more work to do.
Joanne: we need crisis. Without crisis, voting turn outs are low. We need to find ways to get young people to the polls. Somehow folks got away from organizing. Also, issues today are not so black and white. Without youth involvement, organizations die. We need to teach our children.
We tour various locations in Selma (I have various photos, which I hope to share later with notes as soon as I figure out how to do it best).
We visit the National Voting Rights Museum in Selma.

I had a note in my journal to look up Martin Luther King's "Principles of Nonviolence." (linked now)

After our visit to the museum, Ms. Joanne spends some more time with us. Tells us the story of Jimmie Lee Jackson, who was killed while he led protests for voting rights in Selma. She also remembers Bloody Sunday, saying she remembers the screams the most. People could not be helped if they fell, or those people trying to help would get beat up as well by the police and thugs. But even in fear, Ms. Joanne did march with Dr. King. That march took 5 days. In Selma, since then, it took 36 years to get rid of a corrupt mayor and finally elect the first black mayor of Selma.

Wednesday, September 04, 2013

Berea College Civil Rights Tour 2013: Tour Day 2

# # #

It is Sunday morning in Birmingham, Alabama. It is partly cloudy, but it may not rain just yet I hope. I am dressed nicely because later this morning they are taking us to church. After touring Ingram Park, we'll attend service at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. This is the second day of our Civil Rights Tour.

Thought: Every student we work with and helped to graduate is a drop in a pond that ripples in the community.

Note: Dr. Alicestyne Turley, our tour director, is Buddhist. Buddhists did have a role in the Civil Rights Movement (I will have to try to find out more about this later).

Now, I will also note that I am not religious. I do not identify as anything other than heathen when asked. However, if you must know, I was raised Roman Catholic (I am the product of Catholic schooling going between Lasallian Brothers and Benedictine monks. The Lasallians in particular are renowned for their pedagogy, and I got a pretty solid base for lifelong learning from them). Yet I can feel the power of church and religion in black culture and the Civil Rights Movement. (Though in retrospect, given how radical some Christian churches are today in the U.S., I do wonder if they could have had the same role in the movement if they had been as they are today. Thus I wonder what if anything has changed that so many Christians behave pretty much in a very not so Christian fashion, or were they always that way but the issues of the time big enough to put aside their bad behavior for the cause? Then again, Christians do come in different stripes, and I have seen this over time where some can be very liberal and oriented to good works and others use their religion to justify just about every form of oppression imaginable. Back then I suppose it was not that much different: black churches and some white ones fought for civil rights while many other white ones did their best to keep justifying racist oppression.)

Our first stop today is at Kelly Ingram Park.

The black civil rights movement was not monolithic. There were other movements and efforts such as the Black Panthers and the Nation of Islam. For Dr. King, nonviolence was crucial, and to work with him, you had to prove your commitment to nonviolence. Churches like 16th Street Baptist provided nonviolence training.
One of the events remembered in the park is what became known later as the Children's Crusade. At least 3,000 kids were arrested, jailed, attacked by police dogs, so on for protesting for freedom.
Ms. Laquita Middleton was our host and guide at the park. Tara Walton, a city of Birmingham tourism official greeted us there as well.

Worship service at 16th Street Baptist Church.

The sermon topic is on being fruitful. Refer to John 15: 1-14.
I note how the music reinforces the preacher's words, moving then into song and bringing many in the congregation to their feet. Warming up to the sermon.
Every day is a day of Thanksgiving. Don't wait for dignitaries. (The church's anniversary is coming up) Praise is something you do, not something you manufacture.
(Naturally, as the preacher comments he also provides motivation to contribute to the collection. No, I am not saying that to just be cynical. You hear it in the words and the rhetoric, which I do find interesting. There is a certain use of various rhetorical devices by the minister.)
Ushers come by, and the collection plate is passed. Most people use the envelope provided for the donation. (And for the record, I did put a little something. I may be heathen, but I am also polite, and I am sure it will go to a good cause even if I don't agree with everything. Keep reading)
Observation: they are using a PowerPoint set of slides to signal transitions and points in the worship. (A nod to modernity perhaps? A little something for those like us who, not being regulars, are not familiar with how the service is structured?)
Observation: much of the singing does presume a prior knowledge. The congregation can pretty much sing on cue (I would not even know where to look in the hymnal that nobody seems to be using). There is enough repetition in the songs that you can pick some of it up to at least try to follow along if so moved.
The sermon itself. The minister tells us to "always have a Bible. Don't just believe the preacher." Note there are also Bibles provided in the pews, although the more dedicated members do bring their own, well-worn copies.

The topic: "What's all the fuss about fruit?"
There is a disconnect from God; you get the sense of a lack of discipline and disruption. Wounds and the worldly pursuits can cause that disconnect.
So, the question is, how to have a vital connection with Jesus?
(He starts soft, then works up a rhythm in the sermon's oratory.)
To have that vital relation, one must seek knowledge.
The minister refers to previous sermons, where he looked at John 14.
Jesus will show up to his appointments, but he does keep his own calendar (I have to admit, this was a good, interesting line, but I do wonder. As heathen, my initial reaction was, "oh really?"). Idea: Jesus is your life producer, so he breaks "into commercials" to teach truth, he "breaks into" your program in life.
As a believer, Jesus is the true vine and source (and there is no room here for Buddha, Mohammed, so on. This is where we start to part ways in this sermon).
Minister takes it back to the theme of bearing fruit, urging Christians (defined here as those who are "saved") to be fruitful. Believers must show fruit in their lives.
The three reminders for the sermon (notice there is a structure overall, which blends between keeping it simple and really going a bit in depth in terms of metaphors).

Vine is attached to the vine. See verses 1-3. The central vine is Jesus, and believers are branches of the vine. The branches are pruned as needed. This is a cut, which can be painful (think a purge). Image: word of God as pesticide to remove pests in the believer's life.
The branch must abide in the vine. See verses 4-6. The fruitful branch produces for others, if connected to the vine.
The branch must be available to the vine. See verses 7-11.

(Since we are on a schedule, we did not stay for the complete service, but this overall gives you the gist of it)

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Lunch period. During our lunch, two Berea alums spoke to us about their experiences at Berea College.

Ms. Mary Palmer, '72. She mentioned that she herself was not as inclusive of others at Berea, on not giving an opportunity to white students. This from a woman who struggled to integrate her high school before coming to Berea. The lesson: don't be quick to have a perception of someone. And why do we still talk of color in 2013? (magnificent question)
Mr. Masey, '72. As a youth, he went to a "training school." He was then accepted at Berea.
The alums raise a question: why hasn't the college had a black president yet? In our tour with us is Dr. Linda Strong-Leek is Associate Vice-President of Academic Affairs. The issue (if I am understanding correctly, and do keep in mind, I am still new to the college myself) is that aside from a couple other people in assistant administrative positions like Dr. Linda, there have been no black administrators at the college. (And this is certainly a question and conversation that rises up every so often)

Visiting the Institute after lunch. I had visited before, years ago when I was in Birmingham for an academic conference. It does remain a moving experience. You still can't truly see it all in one visit, especially when you are on schedule. The institute does great work as an interpretive museum in bringing the Civil Rights era to life. It does offer a lot to take in about this city that was so central to the Civil Rights struggle locally and nationally.

We head out towards Montgomery, Alabama next.

Friday, August 30, 2013

Article Note: On Consumers Information Seeking at the Supermarket

This is the kind of article I like to read that combines something interesting or curious I did not consider before with a small history lesson. In addition, my interest was further piqued given that I recently read the book Breakfast: A History (link to my review).

The authors begin by outlining some common themes in supermarkets: the use of labels on products, government standards being imposed on food production, processes, and marketing, and the role of advertising to convey information and shape consumer behavior. The article looks at the information-seeking behaviors of supermarket shoppers within stores, but it may mention government actions and/or other consumer behaviors outside of the stores as necessary. The article is organized into three parts: a historical overview, a discussion of information-seeking behaviors and theories (think of this a bit as a primer as well as a demonstration of applicability to supermarket shoppers. This is the "meat" of the article.), and the conclusion.

Some notes from the article I would like to remember:

On women in the 1900s U.S.: "At that time, women were primarily responsible for their families' baking and felt that buying baked bread would reflect poorly on their reputations as industrious homemakers" (179). Clearly women have come quite a ways when it comes to using sliced bread. On a more serious note, the reason this caught my attention is because it is also mentioned in the Breakfast book.
That thing about learning which days to shop for what deals? It goes back to at least the 1930s: "Common newspaper advertisements during the 1930s featured select items for sale at reduced prices on specific days of the week. Informed customers were able to plan which days they would shop in order to save money" (182-183). Keep in mind, this was during the Great Depression, and stores were responding to the times, as well as maintaining their customers.
A little trivia: "Between 1954 and 1964 the number of supermarkets in America rose from 11,140 to 16,000" (185). Other stuff that happened in the meantime and earlier:

1946: Agricultural Marketing Act (link to GPO text).
1958 a reworking of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (link to a handy research guide on this topic out of Georgetown Law School).
1966: Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (Wikipedia link).

Advertisements now, when it comes to supermarkets, focus mostly on low prices and getting you the better deal. It was not always the case. For example: "Advertisements in the early 1940s and 1950s tended to focus on the experience of shopping and highlighted customer service and personal attention instead of promoting products or prices" (185). This was the era when amenities like a butcher clerk (someone to handle questions about meat while the other butchers focused on their work) were added in stores.
The rise of coupons, which today have pretty much declined somewhat due to supermarket loyalty cards: "The economic crisis of the late 1960s and early 1970s in the United States reflected in rising grocery prices. Coupons became popular in this era of inflation" (186).
Later we go shelf labeling and barcodes, which for a time were resisted by consumers fearful they could not see a price on a can or product.
In 1990, we got the National Labeling and Education Act (Wikipedia link).
Now we have supermarkets using websites along with loyalty cards to convey information and move consumer behavior.
The Thomas D. Wilson model of information seeking involves an active demand for information and exchange of information between people. "Thus, information seeking involves deliberate inquiry, whether satisfied or not, and subsequently results in the using, exchanging, or both of learned knowledge" (190). See Journal of Documentation, vol. 55, 1999.
Diane H. Sonnenwald, et.al. described information horizons. "Information sources 'may include social networks, documents, information retrieval tools, and experimentation and observation in the world'. Individuals construct their own unique information horizons, yet individuals' horizons may intersect and share any number of commonalities" (190). See New Review of Information Behavior Research, vol. 2, 2001. The information horizon of a grocery shopper can include any number of sources: family and relatives, trusted store clerks, product labels, and advertisements.
More on the information horizon: "While an individual builds an information horizon with sources found within his or her own circles of influence, communities can develop information horizons as multiple people become connected through shared information resources. When the information found within these shared sources is displeasing to the population affected, social change soon occurs" (191-192). The skeptic or cynic in me thinks this may be ideal condition. What happens when the community shares bad information (c'mon, would you really trust a bunch of Fox News viewers, for example?).
"Finally, the rise of technology in the 1990s and early twenty-first century provided new resources in information horizons. Websites and applications on mobile smartphones put the world of information into the hands of consumers" (192). We need to add the usual caveat most librarians and infotech enthusiasts tend to conveniently forget: as long as the consumers could afford the technology and the internet connection.
The idea of "warm experts," usually friends and acquaintances you seek out for knowledge and assistance. These can often be more effective than print or media. To an extent, your local librarian could fill this role for people. "Additionally, the term 'warm' impliles that the source being questioned is known, familiar, and trusted" (193).
On information gathering: "For grocery shoppers, information was often transmitted from food manufacturers, the supermarket industry, the media, or the government. The information was typically impersonal or may have even been biased toward the transmitter's interests; however, the shopper was able to make each piece of information personally meaningful by gathering from various sources and adding to the base of orienting information" (195). Interesting to note now that with things like loyalty cards, which track people's actual purchases and then (depending on the program) may generate coupons or offers "relevant" to the consumer, that there is some illusion of being more "personal."
On Marcia Bates idea of "berrypicking." The authors argue that grocery shoppers "regularly employed the berrypicking search method to satisfy some information needs during the shopping experience" (196). Consumers modified their strategies and techniques as the supermarket landscape changed.
See Catherine Ross article in Information Processing and Management vol. 35, 1999 on information seeking and reading for pleasure for idea of behind-the-eyes knowledge. According to the authors', Ross' model applies to grocery shoppers as they do price comparison shopping. According to the authors, "shoppers' memories were not like infallible databases that allowed them to accurately recall the price of any items and compare it to the one at hand. Instead, they relied on a wealth of relative information they had gathered over the years" (198). Additionally, note that Ms. Ross is author of Reading Matters, a book that I read (link to my review).
On information acquisition: "...information acquisition is potentially unending; a user may encounter information anywhere at any time. Second, acquired information may satisfy past or current queries or may be stored for use in undefined future queries" (198). Further on, "if information can be infinitely acquired and applied at any time to an infinite number of potential queries, the challenge for the information user is in filtering the cloud of information to identify the useful nuggets" (199).

Note: Book cited in the article I may want to look up later: Aspray and Hayes, Everyday Information: the Evolution of Information Seeking in America.

Friday, August 23, 2013

Berea College Civil Rights Tour 2013: Tour Day 1

# # #

Tour Day One Notes: August 3, 2013:

As we leave from Boone Tavern, Dr. Turley reminds us to consider that the journey we are staring now, traveling together blacks and whites, would have been illegal back in the 1960s. With Reverend Bowman's prayer and blessing, we depart. (And I have so much to think and ponder.)

On the way to Haley Farm, our first stop on the journey, we watch the video Once Upon a Vision, which is a history of Berea College.

The college was founded during the time of slavery, where custom, law, society, and religion all supported slavery. What Reverend Fee and Cassius M. Clay did was a revolutionary social experiment in hostile territory, the land that would become the town of Berea. Clay and Fee did have their differences (something I did not realize since often it seems that since Clay invited Fee that they would get along fine). Fee advocated for civil disobedience. Clay did not, and he withdrew his support of Fee and Fee's work.
Fee then called on other abolitionists. Many came from Oberlin College in Ohio. Fee's vision was for a school for blacks and whites, and the poor, who could not afford an education. Opponents described Fee's work as nefarious in 1854. For a while, Fee and his people were exiled, but they kept coming back. With the Civil War, once the confederates invaded Kentucky, Fee and the others had to stay out. However, Fee went on to volunteer at Camp Nelson (I have to add this to my list of places I would like to see) where the Union Army in Kentucky recruited black soldiers; he served as a missionary and teacher.
When the war ended, Fee returned to his mission at Berea. By setting policies of buying land, which he then sold to blacks and whites allied to the cause, he helped create a racial buffer in Berea. Things were not easy, but the door was left open to all. The school did grow and succeed, and it drew support from reformers.
Berea College's third president, William Goodell Frost (link to essay about Frost from our Special Collections and Archives), brought the mountain people vision to the college. He also did reverse previous college policies that allowed for interracial dating. Black enrollment reduced as Frost worked to bring in more whites. Was Frost racist or misguided? (or something else. What I have learned so far is that Frost's vision is still debated today. In part, what he did was to be able to keep attracting supporters and donors to the college. Frost also had to deal with the effects of the Day Law, which forced segregation). Yet, without blacks, there would be no Berea College per se. Frost did raise overall recruitment and the financial worth of the college. Fee, who was very aged by now, urged Frost and the college not to get away from the original mission of remaining open to all regardless of color. (I have observed it is a very delicate balance here to maintain the interracial mission as well as serve the youth of Appalachia. The fact we manage to keep those two missions, part of the Great Commitments, does speak highly of this college. It is not perfect; there could be some better balance in terms of diversity, but from what I see people here overall do care about the college being open to all)
By 1903, the college had about 800 whites and 100 blacks (serious imbalance here). Social segregation came, and by now, Plessy v. Ferguson was in place. The college remained open to both races until the Day Law was passed. Berea College fought the law all the way to the Supreme Court of the U.S., but it lost the case in 1908. To get around the Day Law, the college divided itself into Berea College and the Lincoln Institute, a vocational school for blacks in Louisville.
Yet, in spite of the obstacles, Berea's black graduates have gone on to great works and achievements.

Clinton, Tennessee: Alex Haley Farm (Home of the Children's Defense Fund training facility).

Ms. Theresa Venable was our hostess here, member of CDF.
The farm, bought by CDF from the family of Alex Haley, serves as a training facility for CDF leadership and activist development.
The hope today is for the facility to become an incubator to other activists to help end child poverty and violence against children. They also hope to bring in scholars to teach graduate courses in nonviolence and peace.
We must note that we had 3 Berea College students participating in training programs here recently. Part of the Y.A.L.T. program. The center is also working on a relationship with Berea College's Carter G. Woodson Center.
We took a walk around the farm. The main building, as well as other building porches, have rocking chairs in them; sitting on the porch was a Haley family tradition that lives on today. Note that many of the rocking chairs do have small plaques commemorating various important figures such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Medgar Evers.
(I took various photos at the farm, along with various photos throughout the journey I will try to share online later)
The farm's chapel was designed by Maya Lin, who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. A concrete part, a shed next to the chapel, is part of the building. It represents a dock to repair a ship or boat. The chapel itself has the shape of a boat. The structure of the boat signifies carrying children to safety. Inside, it is a beautiful open space, with a high ceiling, as if reaching to heaven. It's a relatively secular space (to my heathen view) with no decorations other than some portraits of people instrumental to the Civil Rights Movement on the side walls; these portraits were done by Elizabeth Scism. The chapel is used for worship as well as meeting space.
We also visited their library. The library contains the following types of materials:

Books by black authors.
Books on the black experience.
Books on the Civil Rights Movement.
Books and materials on the African-American culture, tradition, and heritage.
Books from the Freedom School.
Children's books are also collected.
The archives and documents of the CDF as well as relevant government and NGO documents and reports.
Yes, they have a card catalog (it's empty since the records are electronic).

After the tour of the farm, we break bread with a nice simple lunch back at the main building. And after that, we are off on the road once more.

Chattanooga, Tennessee: Bessie Smith Cultural Center.

The museum is self-guided. It documents the work of Bessie Smith as well as the African American history of Chattanooga. The city was a major Civil War site as well for blacks. The area is also part of Appalachia. For both reasons, it is part of Berea's commitment to the region. We had a Berea grad as a local speaker. The city, much like Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was known for its "industrial slavery."

We are back on the road.

Small moment of humor. On the road lessons in African-American culture: Luther Vandross (official site link) music is good baby making music. Aretha Franklin (link to official site) music not so much. It's not impossible, just not as likely.
On the road, we watched chapter from Eyes on the Prize. The segment No Easy Walk. We are on our way to Birmingham, Alabama.

End of the road for the first day. We arrive in Birmingham, Alabama.

Mr. Carl Thoma, alumnus of the college and Birmingham resident, arranged for us to tour parts of the city, showing us various key sites as we arrived. He then arranged for us to have dinner at his church.
Dinner and learning at Trinity AME Zion Church. Our bodies were fed by some very generous people, but so were our minds. We met ten Berea College alumni, successful men and women who have returned to work in their communities. For us faculty and staff, this is the fruit of our work. For me, and I am sure others, meeting and listening to them was a moving and inspiring moment. This is what we are here for. My mission becomes clear. We also had a live performer being to life a colored woman of the 1960s telling us her story (and we will meet her later in the journey again). This added context and helped bring the history to life.

End of the road reflection for this day. I admit that writing these notes, often here and there, on the run when I can get a moment feels a bit like a journalist writing on the run. I try to imagine what it would be like covering events in a place like Birmingham at the time, being a witness for the world to see but not really being able to take part. I think of the contrast to that with today's journalists and bloggers who may well be in the middle of the action and even actively involved as they document it. I don't know if I could have just stood still while watching with a camera or a notebook.