Some context, the history in the city of Boston did not connect with me. There were locations beyond city limits where the history of indigenous people or isolated artists made an impact, but neither tea in the harbor nor molasses down the road really shook me.
Hot with the perspective of visiting Lorraine motel, it's finally evident where the investment in historical locations calls to people.
There are two things Memphis needs to be a place of great acceptance. The first is opportunities and the second is to have greater influence than it's radial neighbors. That latter distinction is exactly what made Lorraine motel a location of great import.
Indigeneity is something that only comes with colonial or oppressive influence against habitants. Memphis is at all times surrounded by forces that work against the city's nature.
In school, Dr. King's life is ended during a speech, and since the Black Panthers are mostly off limits, it wraps up the 'civil rights unit' of the cirriculum. I never knew he was there for a labor strike. There was a whole other movement for sanitation workers when two black men were killed in a trash compactor because segregation prevented them from taking refuge from a rainstorm inside.
Dr. King was not the center of this event. He believed in T.O. Jones and Jerry Wurf, the leaders of the strike. Not only did those men die in their truck, but 7 days before Dr. King's death, a 16 year old black boy, Larry Payne was murdered when a police officer fired a shotgun with the barrel against his stomach.
The final march was silent for those 3 tragedies, the Mayor surrendered, cut a large check and met their demands. What is so poignant about this experience is that we, as people, must endure so much loss before there is progress. It would be different if we could learn from this. But here we are, at a quiet museum in middle America, where the indigeneity of our humanity is consecrated by the destructive influence of power and hate
Why are we still learning? Is it because the lesson was not imparted on us, not articulated clearly enough in school? Being a black student in Memphis means being embedded in this history, and having to tolerate the ignorance and its influence from those around the city.
That's why queer spaces are mostly still secluded to the shadows of night. That's why the policies of Tennessee don't reflect the beliefs of Memphians. This is also why giving the land back to the people that have been its original tenders is so important.
How do we make students of these people? How do they learn from Memphis, rather than the other way around? How do we conclude this long era in humanity of colonial delusions.
2023-10-29