A Compilation of Complications by Elsewhere Museum

A Compilation of Complications

…Healing ain't easy

Servants, be obedient unto them that according to the flesh are your masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Ephesians 6:5 (The Bible)

In 1953 alone, African Americans

filed over thirty formal complaints of abuse and mistreatment on buses. Most came from working-class black women, mainly domestic workers, who made up nearly 70% of the bus ridership. The women stated that drivers hurled nasty, sexualized insults at them, touched them inappropriately, and physically abused them. In May 1954, JoAnn Robinson, leader of the Women’s Political Council, threatened a boycott of Montgomery’s city buses. The boycott finally come into being after months of futile efforts to get city officials to address the problem. Women protested by walking to work, rather than riding the buses. Rosa Parks said in 1956 “[she] was not the only person who had been mistreated and humiliated… Other women, had gone through similarly shameful experiences, most [were] worse than mine.” A bus boycott was started by woman who protested the all white jury’s refusal to indict six white men for the rape of Recy Taylor. #RecyTaylor #LockerroomTalk

In 1855,

a 19 year-old enslaved black woman named Celia killed the white man who owned and was trying to rape her. Missouri law allowed women to use force when in “imminent danger of forced sexual intercourse.” However, the judge ruled that an enslaved woman had no right to refuse her “master.” Celia was convicted of murder, sentenced to death, and hanged on December 21, 1855.

Daniel Holtzclaw

Born in 1986, Holtzclaw is a former Oklahoma City police officer and sexual predator who prosecutors say used his badge to rape at least 13 women over a seven-month period. Prosecutors say the victims of his increasingly brazen pattern of attacks included an underage girl and a grandmother. Ranging in ages 17 to 57, all but one were black and all live in the same poverty-stricken, predominantly African American neighborhood in the north-east section of the city. They were picked because they were black and poor. They were picked because the perpetrator thought nobody would give a damn. Two days after the jury began its deliberations, there was a growing unease about the potential for a not-guilty verdict.

The Sapphire Caricature The Sapphire Caricature portrays black women as rude, loud, malicious, stubborn, and overbearing. This is the Angry Black Woman (ABW) stereotype popularized in cinema and on television. She is tart-tongued and emasculating, one hand on hip, the other pointing and jabbing (or arms akimbo), violently and rhythmically rocking her head, mocking African American men for offenses ranging from being unemployed to sexually pursuing white women. She is shrill and nagging, with irrational states of anger and indignation. She is often mean-spirited and abusive. Although African American men are her primary targets, she has venom for anyone who insults or disrespects her. The Sapphire's desire to dominate and her hyper-sensitivity to injustices make her a perpetual complainer, but she does not criticize to improve things; rather, she criticizes because she is unendingly bitter and wishes that unhappiness on others. The Sapphire Caricature is a harsh portrayal of African American women, but more than that, she is a social control mechanism that is employed to punish black women who violate the societal norms that encourage them to be passive, servile, non-threatening, and unseen.

Don’t Give Up, Win in the End

Q: Why Is My Prayer Not Being Answered? A: SGI President Ikeda addresses this concern in his series, “Humanistic Teachings for Victory” saying, “Sometimes our prayers may be answered immediately, while at other times we can see no clear response. But whatever the case, the important thing is that we keep chanting Nam-myo-ho-renge-kyo with unwavering faith in the Gohonzon. We need to keep chanting earnestly, and keep chanting right through to the very end.”

The New York Times January 25, 1995 (North Carolina) Kermit Smith Jr. was executed today for raping and murdering a college cheerleader in 1980. The execution was the second of a white person for killing a black since the death penalty was allowed to resume in 1976. "These cases have historically been very rare," said Richard Dieter, director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a group in Washington that is opposed to capital punishment. "The overall pattern in this country is that the death penalty is used when the victim is white."

And today to be an African American, to be marginalized, compartmentalized and even altogether banished from sight is fairly routine.

Invisibility Spells

Invisibility spells are believed to work by making people over-look the practitioner. One is not actually invisible. To help explain it further, have you ever misplaced an item such as keys and have torn-up your home looking for them only to discover they were laying right under your nose and in plain view the entire time? This is how invisibility spells are believed to work. Invisibility work is good for many situations. One use of such is when gathering graveyard dirt. The practitioner can gather graveyard dirt in broad daylight and even with other people being in the cemetery, all without fear of being accosted by bystanders. Some people use invisibility work on the Police and other authorities to either not fall prey to such things as racial profiling, to avoid harassment, or to even hide their criminal activities.

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Name: Eugene Hairston Date: 08-25-1887 Race of lynching victim: Black Gender of lynching victim: Male County: Guilford County, North Carolina Cause of death: Severe trauma to the spine Method of execution: Hanging and Shooting Members of mob: 100, none named Confession extracted: Yes Household status of victim: Unmarried Occupation of lynching victim: Unknown Place of abduction: Greensboro Jail Summary: Eugene Hairston was arrested and charged with assault with intent to rape Mahala Sapp somewhere in the vicinity of Kernersville. After arrest, he was immediately transferred to a Greensboro jail where a mob, variously reported as 50-100 people on horses and mules, came from outside the city. After the jailer refused to surrender Hairston, the mob battered down the doors and seized the man. They lynched him in the suburbs “on Mr. Jackson’s farm… near the little brick schoolhouse,” sometime between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. His body, still hanging the next morning, was riddled with bullets. Initial inquiry from the coroner was halted by a group of African Americans who expressed that the perpetrators could be identified. The coroner delayed ruling, though no further accounts reported the outcome. More than 12 hours after Hairston was murdered, his family was allowed to take his body for burial.

Sometimes members of the lynch mob would take knives to relinquish body parts from the victims, as souvenirs.

African Americans

have experienced a legacy of trauma. What is this legacy? How is it transmitted? The legacy of trauma is reflected in many of our behaviors and our beliefs; behaviors and beliefs that at one time were necessary to adopt in order to survive, yet today serve to undermine our ability to be successful. -Dr. Joy De Gruy PhD

100 Years of Freedom? 13th Amendment (1865) ● Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. ● Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. BUT THEN… ● Convict Leasing System (1846) ● Separate but Equal aka Jim Crow(1868) ● Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) ● Tulsa Race Riots on Negro Wall Street(1921) FINALLY… 100 years lbater in 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and as a result, any prior discrimination of minorities was ruled to be unconstitutional. Wait a minute… freedom?

#MakeAmericaGreatAgain

“I am blessed.

I am prosperous. I am successful.” “I am victorious. I am talented. I am creative.” “I am wise. I am healthy. I am in shape.” “I am energetic. I am happy. I am positive.” “I am passionate. I am strong. I am confident.” “I am secure. I am beautiful. I am attractive.” “I am valuable. I am free. I am redeemed.” “I am forgiven. I am anointed. I am accepted.” “I am approved. I am prepared. I am qualified.” “I am motivated. I am focused. I am disciplined.” “I am determined. I am patient. I am kind.” “I am generous. I am excellent. I am equipped.” “I am empowered. I am well able.” -Joel Osteen 19

A RECORD OF FLOGGINGS, HANGINGS, AND SHOOTINGS IN THE TOWN SQUARE OF NORTH CAROLINA

Robert Berrier, Lexington, NC October 25, 1889 Mack Bess, Nearland, NC September 8, 1891 Thomas Jones, Seven Springs, NC August 25, 1902 Harrison Gillespie, Salisbury, NC August 6, 1906 Unknown Negro, May 26, 1910 Peter Bazemore, Lewiston, NC March 26, 1918 Akiel Denkins, Raleigh, NC February 29, 2016 Keith Lamont Scott, Charlotte, NC September 20, 2016 Feel free to leave any names of police brutality that have happened since this date:

Cinderella obeyed, but wept, because she too would have liked to go to the dance with them. She begged her stepmother to allow her to go."You, Cinderella?" she said. "You, all covered with dust and dirt, and you want to go to the festival? You have neither clothes nor shoes, and yet you want to dance!" However, because Cinderella kept asking, the stepmother finally said, "I have scattered a bowl of lentils into the ashes for you. If you can pick them out again in two hours, then you may go with us."

“God, if You are there, I need you to reveal Yourself to me.” Wellington Boone (From Breaking Through)

To Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth, and whether you reveal that which is in your minds or conceal it Allah will call you to account according to it. Then He will protect whomsoever He will and will punish whomsoever He will. And Allah is Possessor of full power to do all He will. -Qur’an, Chapter 2: 284

3/5ths Compromise

The proposal for apportionment for the determination of each state’s number of seats in the House of Representatives became an issue when the Constitution was being drafted in 1787. Aside from being a complex system and method for calculating the population through the census and then establishing a number of seats for representation, the issue as to who was eligible to be counted for the population was a topic of controversy. However, the Three-Fifths Compromise is arguably the most controversial topic, for it delegates that all slaves of a particular state are to be counted as three-fifths of a white person. The population of slaves would be counted as three-fifths in total when apportioning Representatives, as well as Presidential electors and taxes. For the most part, those who opposed slavery only wanted to consider the free people of a population, while those in favor wanted to include slaves in the population count. This would provide for slaveholders to have many more seats in the House of Representatives and more representation in the Electoral College. Many ratios were considered, such as three-fourths, one-half, and one-quarter. After much debate, it would be James Madison that would suggest the Three-Fifths Compromise. However, the Three-Fifths Compromise would not be adopted until the Constitutional Convention because the Compromise was not approved by all of the states and the Articles of Federation required a unanimous vote. The implementation of the Three-Fifths Compromise would greatly 24

increase the representation and political power of slave-owning states. The Southern states, if represented equally, would have accounted for 33 of the seats in the House of Representatives. However, because of the Three-Fifths Compromise, the Southern states accounted for 47 seats in the House of Representatives of the first United States Congress of 1790. This would allow for the South to garner enough power at the political level, giving them control in Presidential elections. However, as time moved forward, the Three-Fifths Compromise would not provide the advantage for which the Southern states and slave-owners had hoped. The Northern states grew more rapidly in terms of population than the South. Even though Southern states had essentially dominated all political platforms prior to the Civil War, afterward that control would be relinquished slowly but surely. It would not be until the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was be enacted in 1865 that the Three-Fifths Compromise would be rendered obsolete. -Constitution Laws (website)

2005

The US Senate offers apology for ‘domestic terrorism’ against mainly black people…it’s been a long, long time coming, but I know a change gon come. Personally, I’d settle for some reparations instead of an apology...just saying. Mmmmmm hmmmmmm.