Leora Fowler Hill: 1951-2012, Los Angeles

Family Genealogy

Leora Fowler Hill

Death is an equalizer. For the deceased all debts, both physical and emotional, are paid in full.  Death does not discriminate. It does not care if you are famous, old, rich, poor, young, sick or healthy. And to no one's surprise, death has a way of appearing at the most inconvenient times.  But the Bible warns us. It tells us that our days are few and numbered. None of us know when that number will be called.

Contrary to what some people say, I do not believe anyone is totally prepared to go with death when they look at its face. In moments of severe illness I believe a death notice makes us realize just how much we want to live. We discover there are goals we want to achieve, adventures we want to experience, roads we want to travel. Death does not give us time to mend broken relationships or, time to say "I’m sorry" to someone we might have hurt with harsh words and accusations.
 

Death lets us know that we are privileged to live for a very short time. Compared to eternity, a mere century plus is short. Life lets us know that we are all tiny grains of sand passing through this life without much notice. If you are famous your grain of sand evolves into a small rock that leaves ripples when thrown into a pool of water. But even those small rocks dissolve, becoming grains of sand again.

On January 31, 2012 another death occurred in this family: Leora Fowler Hill, died of a heart attack in Los Angeles, where she lived. Leora, her brothers and sister came to live in Austin, Texas after the untimely death of their mother, Priscilla Fowler. They were all small children, and Freddie was still a baby.

I still remember Leora as a little girl. She had her own personality, and she was on the stubborn side. She had a way of rolling her eyes, letting you know that she was angry or that she did not like you.

After leaving Austin they returned to Texas to visit periodically. Over the years we lost contact with each other. It was quite by accident that Freddie discovered my blog. I started the blog as a tool relatives could use if they decided to search our family genealogy, beginning with relatives in Texas.  

Freddie said he was looking for a friend, keying in that person's name when he accidentally found my blog. For an unexplained reason, the name Charles H. Rector, a distant cousin in Texas, popped up. Freddie said he recognized the name, and after reading his profile, he recognized the names of relatives that Charles left behind after his death. I couldn't believe it! I had been searching for them for years, and had given up the search when Freddie left a comment on my blog, July 10, 2011. I was overjoyed to hear from them. I talked to him, Leora, Wayne and Sandra for hours at separate times.  Life works in mysterious ways. We made contact with each other again after more than 30 years. I'm glad I got a chance to talk to Leora before she passed on. Our re-acquaintance was short lived.

Leora, 61, named after her Texas grandmother, was laid to rest Saturday, January 14, 2912. Service was held at Simpson Family Mortuary; Dr. Lovely Haynes, officiated. Below is a portion of the funeral program.

Leora Fowler Hill--1951-2012

 Obituary

Leora Hill was was born on August 7, 1951 in Lorain, Ohio to Raymond Edward Fowler, Sr. and Priscella Jane Douthit. Leora was the fourth of six children. Her parents, Raymond and Priscilla Jane Douthit Fowler, her older brother Raymond Fowler, preceded her in death. 

Leora received her early education in Lorain, Ohio. After high school she had two children, Tonii Fowler and Troy Fowler (who preceded her in death).

Leora began her career at the Ford Motor Plant and loved her job, but moved to California in 1981 to make a better life for herself and her daughter in  In 1982  she met the man that she would spend her remaining days with, her best friend, Wayne Hill. They joined in union on March 29, 1985.
 

Leora worked 23 years as a state employee with the State of California, Board of Equalization. She was a dedicated and hard worker. She was an activist in her union, SEIU Local 1000. She also served as chair of the Committee on Political Education (COPE) for Southern California. Although she earned many accolades for her union contributions, her biggest accomplishment was being honored to serve as president of local 1000's District Labor Council 723. She was a great leader for state employees in Los Angeles County. Being president was one of her proudest moments, and she was elated each time she met a politician.

Leora was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend. She leaves to cherish her husband of 26 years, Wayne Hill,  her daughter Tonii Brady (Deon) of Los Angeles; stepson Wayne Hill of Baltimore, MD; six grandchildren: Adia Nichole Brady, Mia Leann Brady, Deon Lamount Brady, Jr. of Los Angeles; Daemir Hill, Fairen Hill and Wayne Hill of Baltmore, MD; one great grandchild (Daemir); siblings: Sandra E. Fowler, Wayne Fowler, Freddie Fowler, Jerome Fowler, Bruce Fowler and Lynette Pryor; special nieces Carla, Tracie, Charlena, Tanasha, Priscella; and a host of nieces, nephews, loving cousins and a countless number of friends.

Below is a tribute to Leora from her sister Sandra and her daughter Nikki.

Sister

In my heart you'll live on.

I wish you sweet rest, my sister dear.

You'll live on in my heart.

Unspoken words we all left behind;

Undone things we'll never do,

No sharing thoughts we will never kn ow.

You'll live on in my heart.

The Bible says that God will open their eyes.

No suffering, sickness. Yes, not even pain. 

In Jesus we have eternal life.

You'll live on in my heart.

I love you.

Your sis, Sandra.  

My Mommy 

A tribute written by Nicki

Either you loved her or disliked her
She didn't care which one you chose
She'd handle you accordingly as all her friends know

Not a fake or a phony, she loved the ones she loved
 And you always knew where she was coming 
From because she believed in tough love
 

Never a more passionate person you'd ever see on these streets 
She was short and petite but a "Bad" piece of meat!
 

A real mover and shaker she couldn't keep her still
 Ready to unionize  the world to help workers get the best deal

She fought so many causes and touched so many lives 
Earning the respect of many even those once despised
 

Say what they want, say what they will 
One thing's for sure, your shoes will never be filled
 I love your passion, I love your drive
 I love your commitment and the sparkle in your eyes

You, my dear mommy, I will never forget
 I love you now, always and forever
On that you can bet.

Nicki

DD Syndrome: Medical condition or inflated ego below the belt?

They're at it again. Old White male politicians are making decisions about a woman’s body.  They have decided that a woman does not have the right to seek a legal abortion. These old White males concur that aborting a fetus is tantamount killing a defenseless child.  These politicians, none of whom can bear a child, also agree that women should be denied contraceptives. They say woman should have the child they conceived, use the rhythm method of contraception as practiced by Catholics, or keep their skirts down and legs closed. Protesting clergy, also making decisions for women, did not get the memo that stated 98 percent of Catholic women are on some form of birth control.

Presidential candidate Rick Santorum, a male obsessed with womens' wombs and their right to govern their own bodies, said if a woman is impregnated by a rapist she should accept the consequences as an “indirect gift from God.” In other words, bear your rapist's baby and thank God for the kid. Santorum, a Catholic, is  adamantly against women having access to contraceptives.

Republicans have always declared war on women reproductive rights. In 2011 with so many of them wining governorships and seats in Congress, they went knee jerk crazy! These White male politicians (a few Democrats included) tend to get silly in the opposite direction when the question is about Viagra. Yet they expect insurers to pay for this “medication” that was  created to temporarily relieve flaccid penises of the dreaded Dead Dick Syndrome (DDS).

Various states want to assure that any woman seeking an abortion is humiliated, discouraged and made to feel guilty before the abortion is performed. A congressman in Georgia proposed legislation that would declare abortions a crime. He wants doctors who perform abortions prosecuted for murder. If a woman has a miscarriage, she, too, would be subject to prosecution if the miscarriage is “suspicious”, implying she might have self- aborted.  The proposed legislation will make a woman's medical records open to the pubic. 

No such legislation is proposed for legislators wanting prescriptions for prick enhancers. There are no “suspicions” of internal foul play if a dead dick fails to rise above cold, useless scrotums. No male is humiliated before he is given a prescription for a bottle of blue pills. Unlike the woman seeking a legitimate abortion, male politicians are not shamed and humiliated because their lethargic dicks cannot come out to play. Their Viagra records of purchase will not be exposed for public scrutiny.  

Between me, you and the bedpost, I think there should be a required test for Viagra hunting politicians suffering from Dead Dick Syndrome.

To compliment the GOP's war on women rights, I think male politicians should answer specific questions when they go for a doctor visit. The visit should include an examination of the politician's penis. They should be required to list or verbally state the number of sexual partners they've had, listing a history all STDs  they have contracted. As an extra side note to their medical histories, the physician should ask the politicians if they've ever impregnated a woman, and subsequently demanded that she get an abortion. 

Doctors should ask politicians when they realized they were walking around with a dead dick in their pants. They should be asked what stimulates them the most: nude men, oral sex, naked women, animals,  pornography, children, self-pleasuring, or some other kinky stimulation.

If the physicians are not satisfied with the responses, and have reason to believe the politicians are lying, they should tell the impotent patients that as a condition for getting a Viagra prescription they has to go to a strip club three or four times, get a few lap dances, and record their reactions. If this does not work the impotent patients should be required to watch two or three porno movies, writing their reactions.

Doctors should then focus on these questions during the follow-up visits: Were you aroused?, Was it a mental or physical arousal?, What caused the arousal?

If the impotent politicians says the experiences did not stimulate them, the doctors should inform the politicians that they are suffering from Dead Dick Syndrome, of which there is no cure. Of course physicians will write prescriptions anyway. Politicians have a right to purchase bottles of the penis puffers. It's legal. On the other hand, these pill seeking politicians do not want women to have the right to legally abort an unwanted pregnancy, or to get prescriptions for birth control pills.

The 1973 Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision gave a woman the right to seek a legal abortion without interference from impotent politicians. If politicians want to ban legal abortions and contraceptives, Viagra and other dead dick remedies should also be banned. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If a penis cannot stand on its own the male has no business demanding, or wanting to have sex with anyone but his hands.

Gov. Christie played fast and loose with the facts about White voters in the South and civil rights

Ferguson, Missouri, 2014. Protesters protest the shooting death of Michael Brown, 18, who was killed by Darren Wilson, a White cop. Protesters are threatened with police dogs, just like the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The more things change for African Americans, the more they stay the same.

Angry White citizens in Little Rock, Arkansas hold protest against integration and "race mixing." One protestor's sign stated that "Race Mixing is Communism."

Nonviolent students sitting at a lunch counter in Jackson, Mississippi, May 28, 1963. They were attacked by belligerent  White males who were bucking for a fight that they did not get. African American and White  protesters were taught not to react to violence against them. Rev. Martin Luther King insisted that protesters not be violent or incite violence.

President Lyndon B. Johnson, Democrat from Texas, signs the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Noted leader of the civil rights movement, Rev. Martin King, Jr., was present at the signing.

The infamous Bull Connor getting ready to sic violent dogs on nonviolent civil rights marchers, which was a common on the journey to freedom and justice for African Americans in America in the 1950s and 1960s.

Civil rights activists were routinely tear gassed and beaten by law enforcement. Until the TV cameras captured the raw brutality and inhuman atrocities these protesters experienced, many of these horrific crimes against them were never seen by Americans. 

Chris Christie Said What?!---

New Jersey’s governor Chris Christie was taught a different course on history that did not include the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. He was born in 1962. As an adult and the governor of the last state to free salves in 1866, Christie has no excuse for being absolutely illiterate about the civil rights movement. Had he taken the time he would have learned that New Jersey politicians were reluctant to abolish slavery; they were reluctant to pass the 13th Amendment. Christie's lack of historical knowledge jumped out like Frankenstein after a facelift. Here is an asinine statement he made January 18.

"People would have been happy to have a referendum on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the South."

Christie was speaking to a State Senate Judiciary Committee. The remark was made in reference to the approval of a bill pushing New Jersey closer to legalizing same sex marriage. Christie's comparison of same sex marriage to the civil rights movement is way off base and completely disconnected.

I guess it would be fair to cut Christie some slack, but I am not in the mood to be fair. As  governor of a former slave state, his lack of history is inexcusable. I am quite aware that Black history was not taught in segregated schools. White students were not required to learn about the contributions Black people made to America.

Needless to say, the governor's assertion raised eyebrows among African Americans, especially those who knew about, and participated in the civil rights movement. He upset a couple of Black gays in politics.

"In Asbury Park, Mayor Ed Johnson, who is Black and gay, said: 'Can you imagine President Truman placing integration of the Armed Forces on the ballot? Or us voting on whether women should have equal pay for equal work?"

"And in Bergen County, Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, who is also Black, said in a statement: 'The governor apparently doesn't even understand that minorities likely would have been blocked from voting on a civil rights referendum in the South. Because they didn't have civil rights!"' (Channel 4 New York News)

Christie should have known if civil rights for African Americans was left up to White people and individual states, they would not be allowed to vote today. Left to a referendum, African Americans would be the designated "immigrants", earning minimum wages or less, working at low skill jobs, and still living under Jim Crow laws in a segregated America.

Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation---Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president, technically emancipated enslaved Africans via an executive order during the Civil War, January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation only abolished slavery in 10 Confederate states.  In addition to freeing slaves, the 13th Amendment squashed all forms of involuntary servitude.

"When the American Civil War (1861-65) began, President Abraham Lincoln carefully framed the conflict as concerning the preservation of the Union rather than the abolition of slavery. Although he personally found the practice of slavery abhorrent, he knew that neither Northerners nor the residents of the border slave states would support abolition as a war aim. But by mid-1862, as thousands of slaves fled to join the invading Northern armies, Lincoln was convinced that abolition had become a sound military strategy, as well as the morally correct path.

"On September 22, soon after the Union victory at Antietam, he issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that as of January 1, 1863, all slaves in the rebellious states "shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free. While the Emancipation Proclamation did not free a single slave, it was an important turning point in the war, transforming the fight to preserve the nation into a battle for human freedom. 

"Lincoln and the Republican party recognized that the Emancipation Proclamation, as a war measure, might have no constitutional validity once the war was over. The legal framework of slavery would still exist in the former Confederate states as well as in the Union slave states that had been exempted from the proclamation. So the party committed itself to a constitutional amendment to abolish slavery. 

The overwhelmingly Republican Senate passed the Thirteenth Amendment by more than the necessary two-thirds majority on April 8, 1864. But not until January 31, 1865, did enough Democrats in the House abstain or vote for the amendment to pass it by a bare two-thirds. By December 18, 1865, the requisite three-quarters of the states had ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, which ensured that forever after “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude ... shall exist within the United States". (History.com)

13th Amendment, 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.’

Despite all noble intentions the 13th Amendment, it was not a good friend to ex-slaves. They were left homeless, penniless and abandoned. They had nowhere to go. They had no prospect for a better life. They had no rights the dominant population had to recognize.

From what I read in some  historical accounts, thousands of freed slaves stayed on with their "former" owners. Being homeless, having no money, no prospects for paid employment, the ex-slaves were subjected to vagrancy laws that landed them in jail, and back to working free. 

Nonetheless, without an income they were expected to pay the fines imposed on them if they could not prove they were employed. They were caught between a rock and hard place, and the hard place was winning. They could not escape the burdens of their previous condition. The Emancipation Proclamation did not deal the freed slave a fair hand in a society that hated the color of their skin.

When the 14th Amendment was proposed in 1866 it went a step farther. Ratified in 1868, it bestowed on ex-slaves all the Constitutional rights that White people were privileged to. Andrew Johnson was president, and this is how the Amendment came into fruition:

   

“The Radicals' first step was to refuse to seat any Senator or Representative from the old Confederacy. Next they passed measures dealing with the former slaves. Johnson vetoed the legislation. The Radicals mustered enough votes in Congress to pass legislation over his veto--the first time that Congress had overridden a President on an important bill. They passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which established Negroes as American citizens and forbade discrimination against them.” (Our U.S. Presidents)

These Amendments did not stop states from enacting newly created Jim Crow and Black Code laws, poll taxes, grandfather clauses, intimidation, White only primaries, and literacy tests that asked stupid questions as prerequisites to vote. Not even the smartest White citizen or politician could answer the questions. This drop kick scheme was solely devised to “regulate” former slaves, stopping them from demanding their rights.

The 15th Amendment grants voting rights to U. S. citizens regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Noticeably, the right to vote is not in the Constitution. This right is a man created privilege that only White men were allowed to exercise.  The amendment was proposed in 1869 and ratified in 1870 under President Ulysses S. Grant. The completed package was supposed to favor former slaves but they did not have the power to take advantage of their rights. They were free on paper but Whites still had control over them.

Freedom without true freedom---Because ex-slaves were powerless and helpless against Whites  who were determined to keep “them in their place”, they would have to fight for real freedom, not the empty freedom granted them by Abraham Lincoln. Over the years Blacks were intimidated and killed by terrorist gangs such as the KKK and similar vigilantes. Lynchings of men and women,  mutilations, Black men burned alive, rape of Black girls and women were as common as hanging trees and grass. Body parts were sold for souvenirs after or before a lynching or human burning. No Whites were ever prosecuted for these inhuman crimes against Black Americans. No law, judge or jury was on their side.

Fast forward to peaceful sit-ins, marches, demonstrations and protests spearheaded by civil rights leaders and followers in 1950s. Rosa Parks, though not the only figure in the quest for civil rights and freedom, is the most recognized for her refusal to relinquish her seat to a White man on a Montgomery city bus.

The bus driver demanded that she go to the back of the bus. She was sitting closer to the front than the back, somewhere in the middle, which was a no-no in those days. The irony is, if there were no available seats in the front of the bus, the bus driver could demand that a “Negro” give up his or her seat in the back of the bus for a White passenger. Parks steadfastness caused her to get arrested, thus sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1964.

From 1955 to 1968---Civil rights leaders and activists refused to retreat. They continued the marches, mainly in the deep South, where White folk treated civil rights like personal Christmas gifts that Blacks were trying to steal. Among the noted civil rights leaders was Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. He became the face and voice of a nonviolent movement. Despite the nonviolence hundreds of leaders and activists were killed, threatened, bitten by police dogs, water hosed, spat on, stoned, cursed at, and beaten by White law enforcement. White people said their "rights" were getting taken away from them to favor Black people.

Now doesn't that sound familiar?

“Many African-Americans risked their lives to march and protest for their voting rights. On March 7, 1965, 525 marchers intended to walk from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery, the state capital. They didn't get far before police confronted them on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. When the protesters refused to turn back, police fired tear gas and attacked the crowd with clubs and whips.” (E-How)

In the end African Americans won a hard-fought change. Whereas they were still discriminated against and basically disenfranchised as legal citizens, President Lyndon Baines Johnson, a Texas Democrat, lessened some their apprehension when he signed into law the  Civil Rights Act of 1964 at the White House, July 2. Suffice it say Southern Democrats fought the hardest against passage of the Civil Right Act. They liked things just the way they were. Blacks were not equal to Whites and they never would be in the eyes of these Democrats and their constituents.

“The bill came before the full Senate for debate on March 30, 1964. The Southern Bloc of 18 southern Democratic Senators and one Republican Senator led by Richard Russell (D-GA) launched a filibuster to prevent its passage. Said Russell: 'We will resist to the bitter end any measure or any movement which would have a tendency to bring about social equality and intermingling and amalgamation of the races in our (Southern) states.'"  (Wikipedia)

This is a mere synopsis African of Americans dying and suffering for their right to vote and live the American Dream, not a mythical promise of the dream. The horrors they suffered were exposed in graphic photos and videos on the evening news. This is what Christie did not take time to research. I guess he is not cognizant of the fact that Republican governors (like himself) and politicians in more than 30 states are reverting to old southern-style tricks and strategies to deprive African Americans of their right to vote. This time it's his party not the Democrats, not all of whom I trust not revert to the "good old days."

This scheme was a preplanned goal to implement if Republicans won big during the midterm elections of 2010.  Well, they won big with the help of raging tea partiers and big money donors. And here we are with a blowhard like Christie foolishly espousing in 2012: "People would have been happy to have referendum on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the South."

Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker said, "Frankly, I wouldn't be where I am today if states had voted on civil rights."

Watch your finger Gov. Brewer!

Republican Governor Jan Brewer points her finger at President Obama as if she was scolding a child who had disobeyed her. The President is too much of a gentleman to tell her what to do with her finger. The stunt drew bad publicity for her.

President Obama would never be this rude to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. He is professional and polite at all times. He does not lose his cool, as he had a right to do in this Brewer-planned scenario, scripted for the media, and her Tea Party constituents. This President is not a cartoon or caricature, nor does he have bouts of I must show this Black guy where he belongs like Brewer and her fellow Republicans. In their quest to upstage him, they always downstage themselves.

A Korean proverb says, "If you kick a stone in anger you'll hurt your own foot." Brewer's toes must have hurt for days. Her display of disrespect did not play well with the public.

Barack Obama is the most powerful man in the world, but this angry White woman from Arizona set out to prove that his power meant nothing to her. Putting her finger in the President’s face was her way of “putting Barack Obama in his place,” She does not see a reason to respect him.

In the photo she appears angry as she rants at the President, whose right hand is on her right elbow. In an interview with a Phoenix TV station, Brewer said she “felt a bit threatened” by the President. The delicate White woman was scared to death of the big bad Black buck who was prone to attack her in public, with security, Secret Service and the media standing on the tarmac with them.

Is this woman freaking serious?! President Obama should have been frightened as he looked at Brewer's baggy face! I won't call her ugly. I'll just say attractiveness by passed her as she stood in the "Attractive" assembly line.

When CBS 3 asked Brewer what she and President Obama discussed, she said: "It's difficult to recall exactly, because I've always been real animated in talking. We could have been talking about a million different things. Bottom line is that he generally wants to talk about amnesty and I want to talk about securing our border. I must say, I was not hostile. I was trying to be very, very gracious. I respect the office of the president, and I would never be disrespectful in that manner."

Translation: "I respect the Oval office, but to hell with the Black guy who sits in the office."

Brewer could have stayed at the governor's  mansion and not meet President Obama. She chose to be a part of the greeting party. She had a bone to pick with him. Brewer intended to turn the presidential visit into a reality show episode, ripe with a finger-in-your-face photo op,  an added bonus to the drama.

Appearing on Fox Wednesday night, Brewer said: “I was trying to be very gracious to [Obama] and he just reacted in just a very negative manner which took me back – kind of left me breathless to tell you the truth.”  Again, Brewer is repeating the myth that the "delicate" White woman is scared of those big bad Black bucks! I was waiting to hear her say the President made sexual overtures towards her.

If Brewer thought her actions would gain national praise, she miscalculated the public’s reaction. Her blatant disrespect was inexcusable. The so-called argument she mentioned was in reference to a book she wrote. In the book Brewer said that President Obama had been very condescending toward her when she visited the White House in 2010. Her disrespectful 

up-your-nose Obama must have been payback. Right?

As it turns out Brewer told several lies about the President in her book Scorpions for Breakfast. She wrote of a visit to the White House: "I felt a little bit like I was being lectured to, and I was a little kid in a classroom, if you will, and he was this wise professor and I was this little kid, and this little kid knows what the problem is and I felt minimized to say the least."

Brewer forgot the press conference they had after the visit.  She told the media that she and  President Obama had a "very cordial" discussion. She said they agreed to work together in search of a solution to immigration and border security. Brewer said the President assured her that most of the 1,200 National Guard troops he is sending to the southern border will be coming to Arizona.

This is the June 2010 meeting in the Oval Office with President Obama. In her book Brewer said the president was very condescending as he lectured her about illegal immigration. The meeting lasted about 30 minutes. She isn't looking traumatized or scared of the president. It appears that she is listening very intently to what he is saying.

Michelle Obama is not an 'angry Black woman'

Michelle Obama

I've followed the Obamas from the first day they appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, when the TV host encouraged Senator Barack Obama to run for president. He did not say yes or no that day.

But he did finally make up his mind to run. After he announced that he was going to run the media commenced its obsessive focus on Rev. Wright, the president's birth certificate, his speaking style, his correct pronunciation of countries and world leaders, his being bi-racial, and a thesis written by Michelle Obama when she attended Yale University. The media complex took its cues from Fox and Sean Hannity, whose primary goal was to destroy the Obama candidacy.

If there was a news bulletin that Satan was going to appear in person on Fox within the hour, Hannity would not cover it unless Barack Obama was standing next Satan. Even then he would say the presidential candidate sold his soul to Satan to win the election. He would say Obama had conspired with the Devil before announcing his candidacy.

After reading a thesis written by Michelle Obama, the media and critics evolved into certified psychiatrists capable of analyzing her personality through her words. They labeled  her an "angry Black woman." A racist. She hates White people. Hannity said he had a video of her calling White people "Whitey." He never did play the video. It did not exist. That did not matter to those hungry for a scandal. Hannity was successful in pulling the so-called mainstream media into the slime bucket with him.

And so the ridicule continued. Critics examined Michelle's speeches, looking for a bankable word or statement. When Hannity thought he found a "gotcha" on the scale of Rev. Wright, he would take a single sentence or word and create a Fox news story.  Although no one ever witnessed this "angry Back woman" going batty during or after her husband's campaign, it did not stop the speculation. Even John McCain's wife threw in her two cents.

The media knew if they kept pushing the notion that Michelle was an angry Black woman it would resonate with those who despised her without knowing her. Sure enough, I began reading comments on a variety of blogs and in newspapers. Threaders repeated media talking points word-for-word. Some even questioned the validity of Michelle's education. Photos of her were photo-shopped to make her look unattractive and angry.

I never accepted the "angry" hype, because the same media said President Obama is an "angry Black man."  When he did not loose his temper, they said he is unfeeling, too elitist, too aloft, too educated. In fact, some pundits got into angry debates with each other when they discussed the President's ability to rise above spoon fed gossip and insinuations. They resented his "coolness" under pressure. Media critics had created images and personalities for Barack and Michelle Obama, and they expected them to live up to the stereotypes.

As a Black woman with a quick temper that I've learned to control, I can testify with certainty that Michelle Obama is not an angry Black woman.  So why not write a book about angry White women and men? There are plenty of them holding office in Washington, DC and every states. Oh, what am I asking? African American stereotypes sell better than the truth about angry White men and women in politics. 

I never heard critics say, nor have I read in the media that Nancy Reagan, Laura Bush and Barbara Bush are /were angry White women.

Jailhouse Poets

Our Secret
Hey, Lord.
We have a secret.

There are some things about
Being old that are fun, yes fun.
The world gets off your back.

They neglect you.

You don’t have to keep up appearances.
You can go back to the fun of being a child,
Watching a spider spin a web.
Making shadow pictures against the light,
Exploring the backyard
As if it were a new country.
Eating applesauce with cream
Instead of dinner,

Dawdling, staying up all night

Counting stars.
Staying home from a dull party
To play chess with an old friend,
Wearing a funny hat.

Why didn’t you tell me
That besides all the things I hate
About old age,
There’s some fun in it?

I know.
I wouldn’t have believed you.

A Sense of Love

The children haven’t turned out
The way we thought they would..
Their parents are hurt and angry,
Ashamed and worried about it.

I’m not.

I like these kids the way they are:
Open and honest, disorganized and gentle,
Scruffy and kind.

They don’t seem to mind spending time with me.
We talked about real things,
Dreams, peace, the sky.
They tell me that living is more important
Than accomplishing things.

I agree.

Their parents are outraged by this,.
So I don’t go into it.
I say, “The kids came.”

The parents say, “Good. At least
They have s sense of duty.”

I think they have a sense of love.

poems by Sandra

So I swung

I saw a swing
so I swung.
I saw the cigarette
so I smoked it.
I saw the drug
so I did it
and did it.
I saw the gun
so I took it.
I saw the store
so I robbed it.
I saw the police
so I ran.
I see my mother cry

but I gave it another try,
another fix, another store.
I saw a lawyer.
I saw a judge.
I saw the jury.

Now all I’ll see is more bars.
I’ll see the prison.
Maybe one day

poem by Peggy Sue

It Is Nothing I Do

It is nothing
I do
that makes me different
from anyone else

It is the events:
random and
sometimes
savage that
happened to me
that made me
what I am

poem by Stephanie

Emergency

I really don’t think we should go through
with this you guys.
I have a feeling we’ll be sorry.

You always have your funny feelings.

Okay smart ass, go ahead.
But don’t forget I warned you.
Hurry up and get it over with.

O HOLY SHIT!
Spread legs, hands on the car.

        You were right. I’m sorry.

        Just shut up, Okay? Sorry isn’t going to help  now.
       
        Sitting in the cop car i felt for this man.
        I turned to him and said;
        Don’t worry love.

        One day we’ll laugh at this shit.
        One day we’ll write a book.

I Seek Peace

Why do you hide from me?
I look for you in my God.
I look for you in pleasure.

I seek you, for I need you.
Peace, restore my soul.
I see you in my child’s face,
In families that gather together.

I see you when two young lovers
Gaze into each others eyes.
So, why Peace,
Do you hide from me?

The doors of my heart
Are open to you.
Won’t you please come in?

poems by Yvonne

All of the above poems were written by women in prison in a book called: “So I Swung” which is an anthology of work by women in the Travis county Jail, 1978.

John F. Kennedy

President Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy arrive at Dallas Love Field Airport, November 22, 1953. He was later shot to death as his motorcade rode through downtown Dallas in an open convertible. It was a sunny day.

John F. Kennedy

I cried when John F. Kennedy was killed.
Slain by a gunman named
Lee Harvey Oswald. An American.

A strange fellow, hell bent on committing the ultimate crime.
        Political disagreement with the president?
                        Maybe. There were rumors.

    I hate violence, disruptions and death.

When the media
Said President Kennedy had been shot in my
Part of the country: Texas
        I felt ashamed that it occurred in Dallas.
                    
               The date was November 22, 1963.
       
I remember thinking: Violence is so intentional.
So evil. So distracting. So aimless.

Death should be natural.
Not forced by a killer’s bullet.

I was in downtown Austin
     The day it happened:
    The assassination.
I was waiting to catch a bus,

Smiling behind my lips, being
Flirted with by passing men.

Hearing about death was not on
        My to-do-list.
    The day was too sunny and
    Pretty to ruin with that kind of news:

    The fatality of a president.

I heard a man or woman
Say Kennedy had been shot.
His condition was uncertain. Everything was crazy.
The news was traveling at record speed.
 
I was surprised for some reason.
I don’t think I believed it.

I was not close to a radio
Or TV. I had to wait
Until I got home.

        It was a long bus ride.
            A very long ride.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

They said the shots rang out, 
Annihilating a life
That had a right to be lived in full.

        My mother greeted me at the door
            With the tragic news.

    I didn’t want to cry.
        Not for this man,
        The president of the United States.
   
        He was a stranger to me.
    Nonetheless I had voted for hm.

The bothersome knot settling 
Deep in my throat.
Was preparing to strangle me.
The need to cry can be stifling.

My head and chest were heavy,
Each breathing and beating to its own rhythm.
I thought each would
        Burst under the pulsating pressure:
            Beat. Throb. Beat. Throb. Beat. Throb.

Things got better after letting
Go the tears.
Private tears I had saved and packaged
For a different occasion.

I teetered between sniffling
And crying out loud when Kennedy’s
Funeral was televised.

Watching it with the
Rest of rest of the world
Was harder than when the
    Assassination was first announced by
        A tearful media.

That was the first and last time
I  cried for a white man.
 

His death has been a lasting memory.

The assassinator of President
John F. Kennedy was gunned down
By a hat wearing
Little man named
         Jack Ruby,  
    A night club owner in Dallas.
   
Lee Harvey Oswald
Was in police custody
When the single shot was fired.
           
Police and detectives stood still as cement,
Their mouths and eyes
Propped open in total shock
        As a “distraught” Ruby delivered
        A fatal bullet to Oswald’s belly.
                  Point blank.

    The hefty little shooter surrendered without incident.

Ruby was able to get close to
The captured suspect because
He was a familiar face
At the Dallas Police Department.

Familiarity bred justice outside the courtroom
        That bright sunny day.

It’s true the brain is a filing cabinet.
This retrieved file helped me write this poem. 
It helped me remember
That November day in history,
When sunshine, bullets and tragedy
Controlled the world’s attention.

The retrieved file
Helped me recall that
Solemn day.
It was the first and last time
My mother held me while I cried.

I was a grown woman with daughters of my own.

Daughters that I held whenever they cried.
 

Copyright by dorothy charles banks