Revolution and Beatitudes of Black Liberation: A video essay by Stacey Walker
Posted on Feb 24, 2021 by Stacey Walker
Video: https://www.facebook.com/LittleVillageMag/videos/2811329509178900/
Stacey Walker prepares to deliver his essay in a video shoot at the Englert Theatre, February 2021. — Addison Arp
When Gandhi was asked what he thought of western civilization, he responded, “It would be a good idea.”
Excerpt:
My family story seems to begin in rural Alabama, where my grandmother Shirley Ann was born. I imagine a shack of a house, along a dirt road out in the country. She would be raised by parents, who were raised by former slaves.
My grandmother was tall and strong. Her skin was the color of the Great Pyramids and was dotted with freckles. The way her prominent cheekbones conducted her face made you wonder which Native tribe we shared a bloodline with. If she didn’t smell like Obsession perfume, she smelled of hot grease, or Comet scouring powder. She kept a pristine, three-bedroom apartment that was open to all people; a hostel for the whole hood.
She was devoted to her God and committed to serving others. Her heart was so kind. Her laughter alone could lift broken spirits.
But the beast that was the American South during that time, swallowed many of my ancestors whole; robbing them of their dignity, relegating their lives to field hands; and turning unruly men into strange fruit that hanged from the poplar trees.
Thoughts of revolution were quieted, but never extinguished.
My mother was bright. She was kind. She was gentle. She could get close to anyone by making them laugh. That was one of the ways she demonstrated her love. She could talk to anyone about anything, and she could make anyone feel comfortable. Black as midnight and as beautiful as they come. She raised us with love. She raised us to love ourselves, whoever it was we would become.
My mother was murdered at the hands of an unknown assailant. The case was never solved. She left two kids behind who had to make sense of this white world with little understanding of our past, and a dim outlook of the future. We went on to be raised by Grandma’s hands.
https://littlevillagemag.com/stacey-walker-beatitudes-of-black-liberation/
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