GLORIOUS
1. Robert Sengstacke Abbott (1870-1940)
As a student of American culture generally, and black American history specifically, I felt fairly confident in my base knowledge of most of the monumental figures in black history. Yet somehow, I only learned of Robert Abbott earlier this week. Robert Abbott learned printmaking at Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia. Later, in 1898, he earned a J.D. at Chicago-Kent Law School (one of the earliest law schools to accept non-white applicants). After his law practices in Gary, Indiana; Topeka, Kansas; and Chicago succumbed to discrimination, a local black lawyer advised Abbott that he was "a little too dark to make any impression on the court in Chicago." Doubtless frustrated, but undeterred, Abbott invested a quarter in some print paper, got a loan to start printmaking, and on May 5, 1905, published the first issue of The Chicago Defender, "The World's Greatest News Weekly."
The Defender was a sensation. Abbott's vision was to provide a mouthpiece and an outlet for black Americans, as they struggled against lynching, terrorism, segregation, and other manifestations of white supremacy. He wrote in an editorial: When the white fiends come to your door, shoot them down, when the mob comes, you must take at least one with you. DAMN RIGHT.
Within 10 years, the Defender reached a broad regional and national audience. Abbott utilized unofficial channels of distribution to be sure that his audience included those African-Americans that were most frequently terrorized by white supremacists in the deep south. Recognizing that copies of the Defender would be confiscated and destroyed upon arrival in southern cities, Abbott pressed the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters into service as newspaper carriers. Rather than unload the papers at designated train stops, the porters would throw bundles of the Defender from the train several miles away from the nearest station, where it would be read and shared widely among black folks in the South. For his efforts, Abbott became a millionaire.
Students of American history will recall that starting in about 1915, black Americans migrated northward to escape both terrorism and tough economic times wrought by the boll weevil (to whom there is a monument in Dothan, Alabama, for without the boll weevil, Dothan would not have become the peanut capitol of the universe; strange things happen in Dothan, AL, right Geoff?). Well, a huge number of those migrants (like the family shown above) headed for Chicago between 1915 and 1918, largely on the basis of information and opportunities the Defender described.
From its founding in 1905 through to today, the Defender brings news of specific interest to a black audience, and it still "brings its A-game." Although the newspaper is a shadow of its former self, that is more of a reflection on the fragmentation of the media today than any shortcomings of the newspaper or its founder. Robert Sengstacke Abbott founded a newspaper that literally changed the demographic face of the nation, dedicated it to the cause of truth and social justice, and made a million in the process. That is glorious.
2. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
We don't have cable television in our household. Our artfully hidden rabbit ears give us six channels: PBS (6), NBC (8), CBS (13), ABC (17), Crazy-Religious-community-access-channel-that-sometimes-shows-weird-movies (26), and FOX (38). Every time I have to fold laundry, I turn on PBS. And every time I turn on PBS, I'm delighted that I did. Whether it's a crazy musical program about a sing-along on a town square in the Netherlands, complete with a running carillonneur (the carillon is a bell instrument that is usually housed in a church tower; I learned of it from my friend Tim's aunt, who plays (or used to play) this one every Friday) or a terrific documentary film about the black press ("Soldiers Without Swords") (which as you may have guessed from the above aired earlier this week on my local affiliate), PBS never fails to entertain and inform me. This is what my media looks like. Our airwaves. Our media. Glorious.
3. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. King is in the news a lot this week, as he is every year around his birthday. The above mugshot was snapped in Montgomery, Alabama during certainly the most well-known, if not the most successful, bus boycott in U.S. history. Years later, after he was murdered, some Alabama police officer added the graffiti to the picture in the mug shot book, and then the book was left for dust. Years later still, someone unearthed the book, and the picture of the first time that Dr. King went to jail. At least the first time I know about. Dr. King did nothing wrong in the usual sense of the word, but he broke the (racist) law and went to jail. This makes him a criminal.
We don't hear about Dr. King the criminal, because we are ashamed and we try to forget that we criminalized him. But that is what this country did and continues to do to people who stand up and fight for unpopular causes. People who struggle against the wage or the cage, people who believe in the righteousness and necessity of a brighter, better, fairer, safer day, a day when this nation will, to quote the dream speech, "live out the true meaning of its creed." Those type of people go to jail. Eugene Debs. Fred Hampton. Angela Davis. Emma Goldman. Martin Luther King, Jr.
We hear a lot about Dr. King's dream, but very little about his vision. And even less about the garbagemen. The ones he went to Memphis to support in April 1968. These ones:
In his final address to these striking garbage workers, Dr. King was very concrete and specific with the direct action that he was encouraging:
We are asking you tonight, to go out and tell your neighbors not to buy Coca-Cola in Memphis. Go by and tell them not to buy Sealtest milk. Tell them not to buy -- what is the other bread? -- Wonder Bread. And what is the other bread company, Jesse? Tell them not to buy Hart's bread. As Jesse Jackson has said, up to now, only the garbage men have been feeling pain; now we must kind of redistribute the pain.
In the typical lionizing address that you will hear this week, you won't hear much about how Dr. King wanted to "redistribute the pain." But this is where the man was from about 1965 until his murder in 1968. He was fighting for poor people's rights, rights to be employed, rights to be supported by their local banks, rights to have affordable and safe housing. This kind of talk can get a man arrested or killed, especially a man who people might decide is right. A man like Dr. King. The police in Memphis (shown below) were ready to beat the strikers into submission.
When Dr. King addressed the garbagemen in Memphis the night before his murder (full text of his speech is available here), he spoke to them about redistributing the pain of economic hardship through an effective and coordinated economic boycott. He spoke to them about the need to remain dedicated to the struggle for freedom and economic equality, no matter what types of obstacles are thrown into their way. He spoke to them about how glad he was that he wasn't killed by that crazy woman who stabbed him in Harlem at the booksigning. And he spoke to them about the recent threats that were made against his life. Threats "from some of our sick white brothers." And then he gave the most moving conclusion to an address I have ever heard. Thanks to the wonders of YouTube, I bring you the bone chilling, prophetic ending of Dr. King's final public address.
4. New Orleans Saints playing for the NFC Championship. 
The suffering denizens of N.O. can use something to cheer about these days. I'm not one to think that sports can ever change the world for anyone other than a very lucky and talented few star athletes (whose multimillion dollar salaries are probably unjustified but nevertheless do change things for their immediate families), but I believe in the escapist power of sports fandom. If the Saints kick the ass of the Bears and go on to win the Super Bowl, for at least a few minutes, some very embattled folks might be able to escape the misery of their surroundings and just feel good. With the Seahawks out of the way (thanks, in part, to typically bad Mike Holmgren playcalling), I have no obstacle to rooting for the Saints to win the Super Bowl. King Cake at my house on February 4. Prince at halftime!
5. Oregon Ducks Basketball 16-1.
This is Aaron Brooks shooting the game winning shot against the Number 8 ranked Arizona Wildcats. There were two seconds to play. The game was tied. We were playing at Arizona. Did I mention they were ranked eighth in the country? It went in.
With this victory, the little ducklings have now cracked the top ten in both the AP Poll and the coach's poll. Someone at ESPN said they could be a number 4 seed in the tournament, predicting an improbable matchup against Oral Roberts (who did defeat Kansas earlier this season) in the first round of the West Regional in Spokane.
This Duck basketball squad is better than the one led by current NBA players Luke Jackson, Luke Ridnour, and Fred Jones. And that team reached the elite 8. I love the Ducks.
And maybe, just maybe this team stands a chance to not just get to the tournament, but win a game, maybe even two? Ernie Kent, an Oregon alum, has proven he can lead the team to tournament success in the past. Can he do it again? My magic 8 ball says my god I hope so!
6. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2007.
The day we have all been waiting for.
DUBIOUS - The dubious need little explanation this week.
1. The Tyranny of Tolerance: A sitting judge breaks silence to expose the liberal judicial assault by Robert Dierker, trial judge in St. Louis, MO. GIVE ME A SMALL BREAK.
2. MLK Blvd. 
Dr. King's dream has an address, and it sells "Pimp Oil." MLK Blvd, Chattanooga, TN.
This is one of many MLK Boulevards (and why does he always get a blvd instead of an avenue or a street?) across the country, usually in poor, segregated neighborhoods.
Can't we do better?
3. Rep. Frank Silvey, R-Clay County, Missouri House of Representatives.
B.A. Interpretive Speech.
Bob Jones University.
Class of 1998.
Yes, that Bob Jones University.
4. The Surge.
The only people that this makes sense to are the troops that are already in harm's way, who will no doubt welcome the support. As a general policy, it's tantamount to trying to fill a sieve by adding more water. The more you add, the more you lose, though in this sieve it's lives, not water, that we lose. Sad.
5. iPhone.
I want a phone that works at a very high level, which to me means that I can dial easily by touch, scroll easily through my contacts, and above all hear what the other person is saying dammit. I want a camera that takes effective and excellent pictures, especially in low light; a camera whose lens is in my hand while I'm talking to someone on the phone will not do that. I want a portable music player that will not ring when my phone rings, through which I can have an unmediated listening experience (but I listen to records usually). Basically, I want each of the components of the iPhone, but I emphatically do NOT want them all in the same "convergent device." Am I alone?
- ALEXANDER.
I've always maintained that the last three years of Dr. King's life would make an excellent subject for a film, as it seems that this is a period that is rarely discussed. Unfortunately, in the current Hollywood climate, the only one who could get it off the ground would probably be the highly dubious Oliver Stone. Or maybe Spike Lee, but Spike has always showed a greater affinity for Malcolm X than for Dr. King. I'm touched that my upcoming nuptials made the Glorious list.
Posted by: JSR | January 17, 2007 at 11:11 AM
Last Friday, 300 elementary students in lily-white (mostly) Boulder, Colorado did hear about the criminalization of Dr. King. From a white man who went to jail with him (glorious), but who has rarely spoken of these events (dubious). Our recent interaction with MLK included a mini-study of his use of the semi-colon (glorious, underused punctuation device), and a visit to the King Papers website, hosted by Stanford University. On that website, King's graduate work was first listed as systematic theology (correct), then as "systemic theory." (Incorrect, and therefore dubious.)
Posted by: JRW | January 17, 2007 at 10:27 PM
Frank Silvey. Oh, the banality of evil!
Posted by: StarChild | January 25, 2007 at 04:25 PM