Root-Boy Slim & The Sex Change Band: This Date in History

[donbosco]

3.2 Million Americans were enslaved in the decade before the Civil War (1850-60). The nation was divided by this hypocrisy. One side right, and the other wrong. “In 1852, abolitionist Frederick Douglass delivered his speech 'The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro,' on July 5 at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Rochester, New York. Douglass’ words resonate today." His audience was made up of abolitionists and anti-slavery Americans.

"Oh, had I, the ability, and could I reach the nation's ear, I would today pour out a fiery steam of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire. It is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm. The feeling of the nation must be quickened. And the conscience of the nation must be roused. The propriety of the nation must be startled. The hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed and it's crimes against God and man must be denounced."

"The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony."

Listen as Danny Glover reads an excerpt from Douglass's "Fourth of July Speech, 1852" at the link below --

The Link to the entire Transcript: "What to the Slave is the 4th of July?" Speech Transcript by Frederick Douglass

The Link to The Speech Audio spoken by Glover:

 

[donbosco]

How about a look in on North Carolina’s Rich & Famous? On November 29, 1931 Z.Smith Reynolds secretly wed actress and torch singer Libby Holman. It was a tumultuous union. On July 5, 1932, as a party was winding down in his home, Reynolds was shot. Holman was indicted, as was Reynolds’ best friend, Ab Walker, but there was no trial-a suicide was ruled.


The investigation and subsequent dropping of charges against Holman drew national attention. Adding to the public’s fascination, Holman was 6 months pregnant at the time of the shooting. She reported that Reynolds was despondent and took his own life.

Holman received $750,000 in insurance and the child, Christopher, a $6.7 million trust fund. The performer attempted to return to the stage with no real success. The darkness of her notoriety was too much.

In 1936 Z.Smith Reynolds’ siblings founded a Foundation named for him dedicated to charitable works that continues to this day to do good work around North Carolina and the world.

Libby Holman committed suicide in 1971 at the age of 65.

Tragic Pairing of Tobacco Heir and Torch Singer

On November 29, 1931, Zachary Smith Reynolds married Broadway actress Libby Holman. The young tobacco heir had just spent the better part of a year following the starlet and torch singer around the world until she finally agreed to marry him.The young couple wed in secret in the parlor of a...

www.ncdcr.gov

 

[Centerpiece]

3.2 Million Americans were enslaved in the decade before the Civil War (1850-60). The nation was divided by this hypocrisy. One side right, and the other wrong. “In 1852, abolitionist Frederick Douglass delivered his speech 'The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro,' on July 5 at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Rochester, New York. Douglass’ words resonate today." His audience was made up of abolitionists and anti-slavery Americans.

"Oh, had I, the ability, and could I reach the nation's ear, I would today pour out a fiery steam of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire. It is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm. The feeling of the nation must be quickened. And the conscience of the nation must be roused. The propriety of the nation must be startled. The hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed and it's crimes against God and man must be denounced."

"The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony."

Listen as Danny Glover reads an excerpt from Douglass's "Fourth of July Speech, 1852" at the link below --

The Link to the entire Transcript: "What to the Slave is the 4th of July?" Speech Transcript by Frederick Douglass

The Link to The Speech Audio spoken by Glover:

On NPR yesterday, I heard James Earl Jones recite this piece by Frederick Douglas.

 

[sringwal]

3.2 Million Americans were enslaved in the decade before the Civil War (1850-60). The nation was divided by this hypocrisy. One side right, and the other wrong. “In 1852, abolitionist Frederick Douglass delivered his speech 'The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro,' on July 5 at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Rochester, New York. Douglass’ words resonate today." His audience was made up of abolitionists and anti-slavery Americans.

"Oh, had I, the ability, and could I reach the nation's ear, I would today pour out a fiery steam of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire. It is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm. The feeling of the nation must be quickened. And the conscience of the nation must be roused. The propriety of the nation must be startled. The hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed and it's crimes against God and man must be denounced."

"The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony."

Listen as Danny Glover reads an excerpt from Douglass's "Fourth of July Speech, 1852" at the link below --

The Link to the entire Transcript: "What to the Slave is the 4th of July?" Speech Transcript by Frederick Douglass

The Link to The Speech Audio spoken by Glover:

As fantastic as the Danny Glover reading of it is, I recommend Ossie Davis’ more:

 

[donbosco]

Those are all good readings and I play them for students...Benjamin Bratt does a very good one too IMO.

I've had the good fortune to heard David Blight speak and often turn to his lectures, speeches, and visits to podcasts...here is less than 5 minutes from him on Douglass...

 

[donbosco]

Just an addendum on Frederick Douglass..."Douglass was the most photographed American of the 19th century, sitting for more portraits than even Abraham Lincoln. Douglass intentionally sought out the cameras, believing that photography was an important tool for achieving civil rights because it offered a way to portray African Americans fairly and accurately. He intentionally did not smile for the camera, in part because he wanted to counter “happy slave” caricatures that were common at the time, particularly at places such as minstrel shows where white actors performed racist skits in blackface." 10 Facts You Might Not Know About Frederick Douglass, in Honor of His 200th Birthday

"Frederick Douglass Used Photographs To Force The Nation To Begin Addressing Racism"​

Frederick Douglass Used Photographs To Force The Nation To Begin Addressing Racism

A year-long exhibit in Boston features almost 100 photographs Frederick Douglass sat for in an effort to establish a new image of black people: self-possessed and unafraid.

www.wbur.org

 

[donbosco]

In 1864 Western North Carolina and Buncombe County’s Civil War-time Governor Zebulon Vance commented on the situation in North Carolina, stating that "the great popular heart is not now and never has been in this war. It was a revolution of the politicians, not the people." Vance grew up outside of Weaverville-the primary reason that the now removed monument to him was located in #Asheville. A few years ago we took a family trip to a street fair in Hendersonville #WNC, only about 45 minutes from Weaverville, where we had settled for a time. Henderson County has an impressive county courthouse, and it is ringed with monuments to veterans who fought in our endless wars.

But there’s a ‘different’ sort of remembrance on those grounds-It reads: “In Honor of the Citizens of Henderson County who served in the Union Army during the Civil War for the Preservation of the United States of America and in Gratitude to their Families. Erected in 2008.” (Mentioned here in this illuminating piece by super investigative journalist and Western North Carolinian, Jon Elliston, ( For historians documenting WNC’s Civil War monuments, the past is not always set in stone )

The true story is that North Carolina was home to a significant anti-war effort during the Civil War. Quakers (historically pacifist AND abolitionist), other Abolitionists, non-slave owning Yeomen farmers, as well as coastal fishermen and sailors, all seeing no reason to fight or die for the institution of slavery resisted in goodly numbers. Some joined an underground movement called ‘The Heroes of America’ or ‘The Red Strings’ that worked to undermine the Confederacy and the Pro-Slavery cause. The story of the anti-war Tar Heels is not well-known but they operated in the mountains, the Piedmont, and on the coast. I sometimes see loud, jacked-up, black smoke billowing trucks flying Confederate flags in Buncombe and Madison Counties, clearly out to make a statement. I wonder what statement regarding that very same flag was made by their Western North Carolina ancestors, many staunchly anti-war and anti-Confederacy like their Henderson County neighbors?

A good friend told me that in his Western North Carolina town the local chapter of Confederate Rememberers and Celebrators took it upon themselves to place little tee-tiny Stars and Bars on the graves of every man buried in the local cemetery who had been of age to have fought in the Civil War on the occasion of the quite defunct Confederate Memorial Day (May 10 in North Carolina — not an official holiday by the way). Presumptuous and deeply ignorant of history is what I’d call such a move — with great emphasis on the ignorant part — since as the record shows, the region was significantly anti-Confederacy, and there is little doubt that hardly all (any?) of those whose graves were so marked were actual Confederates. There is, in fact, one story fairly well-known locally in Western North Carolina’s “Land of the Sky” of the Shelton Laurel Massacre. It is a long story but in short, in January of 1863 in Madison County, “Thirteen men and boys, suspected of Unionism, were killed by Confederate soldiers.” I’ll write about that someday I suspect, it is the tale of a heinous action, another presumptuous and ignorant one in fact. Read more here: Shelton Laurel Massacre (P-71)

More History to be taught I reckon but to be sure a loud anti-truth whine would go up against any public school teacher that tried such an audacious lesson plan. In Civil War North Carolina resistance was clearly significant though since it resulted in the creation of a domestic force designed to police and keep in line the population that resisted. That leads into our On This Day: #OTD (July 7) in 1863, North Carolina’s Confederate Legislature created a ‘Home Guard’ to meet anti-Confederate sentiments and activities. Units opposed draft resistors, chased deserters, enforced laws, and skirmished w/Union troops. The Home Guard, Peace Keepers During the Civil War

For more information on North Carolina Resistors see: Wm T. Auman’s ‘Civil War in the North Carolina Quaker Belt: The Confederate Campaign Against Peace Agitators, Deserters and Draft Dodgers.’ Also read here: “The War Within the Confederacy: White Unionist of North Carolina,” The War Within the Confederacy: White Unionist of NC And, ‘North Carolina Unionists and the Fight Over Secession,’ by Steve M. Miller.



Also see: Dr. Victoria Bynum’s Blog lo“Renegade South,” at North Carolina – Renegade South

 

[donbosco]

#OTD (July 8) in 2020: Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman Submitted His Request to Retire from the US Military. The Dishonorable trump unjustly punished, harassed, and bounced from Service the Honorable.

 

[donbosco]

On This Day:
#OTD (July 8 ) 1979 GSO Worker’s Viewpoint Org. (AKA The Communist Worker’s Party) protested a Ku Kkux Klan showing of ‘Birth of a Nation’ at China Grove NC Town Hall. Violence was averted #OTD but led to the KKK ambush of the CWP in Nov. https://www.ncdcr.gov/.../film-screening-prelude-to..

 

[ChileG]

#OTD (July 8) in 2020: Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman Submitted His Request to Retire from the US Military. The Dishonorable trump unjustly punished, harassed, and bounced from Service the Honorable.

Amazing that the people who claim to love and support the military were happy to vilify Vindman in order to support a draft dodger.

 

[donbosco]

I think I only saw Foster McKenzie III and his band twice but I know where that was: The Cat’s Cradle down the alley beside Tijuana Fats’ and behind Mama Dip’s Country Kitchen. They, AKA Root Boy Slim & The Sex Change Band, were beyond punk — more raunch & roll, and to me (devotees please don’t throw things) a novelty blues act. But that Rosemary Street-Tijuana Fats’-Cradle Scene brought it all, and then packed it into that little room (that went on to become Dennis Gavin’s much-loved “Skylight Exchange” as well as subsequent spaces that I kind of aged out of as can be/is often the case with college towns.) In my defense I did do battle with that ‘aging-out’ thing long-term.

Root Boy did strike a political chord that, in retrospect, foreshadowed some of the trumpishly disgusting ways of seeing his generation (he was born in 1944) would bring on the world - Root Boy was but a bellwether, not an actual purveyor. “Christmas at K-Mart,” “I Used To Be a Radical,” I'm Not Too Old For You" joined “Boogie ‘Til You Puke” to prophesize some of the places Baby Boomers might take things.

But The Cat’s Cradle was quite a lot more (and so remains)-the blessing of the place was the eclecticism of the offerings-from Thursday nights with The Bluegrass Experience to dBs on Saturday to X-Teens & Fabulous Knobs on Friday (For a great chronicle of those time see here for Matt Barrett Econopouly’s musings: The Golden Age of North Carolina Music by Matt Barrett ). For the Epoch of 1989 through 1999 you gotta dig into Tom Maxwell’s ‘A Really Strange and Wonderful Time.’ Amazon.com

I’m not that sure that claiming Foster McKenzie III as a Native Son is the kind of thing that the majority Right-Wing in our General Assembly would approve but truth be told Root Boy sure saw the likes of Phil Berger, Tim Moore, and crew coming.

On to our #OTD (July 9) in 1944 Foster MacKenzie III-Root Boy Slim was born in #AVL. When young, his family moved to the WashIngton DC area- he was a sharp kid and eventually graduated from Yale. Ultimately LSD and Medical Problems befell him-Nevertheless, in the ‘70s he started Root Boy Slim & The Sex Change Band and in ‘78 they had a hit w/‘Boogie ‘Til You Puke.’ In ‘93 he died in Florida. He is buried beside his father in #Fletcher NC. His “Find-a-Grave” is here: Foster “Root Boy Slim” MacKenzie III (1944-1993) –...

No, there is not a state historical marker for Root Boy - but maybe the Tijuana Fats-Mama Dips-Cat’s Cradle Alley ought to have one? You can read a bit more on him here though: Root Boy Slim and Blues Based Mayhem

 

[donbosco]

"It was July 9, 1962, when Andy Warhol's exhibit, Campbell's Soup Cans, opened at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. This was Warhol's first solo exhibition of pop art. Campbell Soup Cans comprised 32 separate canvases, each depicting a different soup flavor.... . . He had started on the Campbell’s soup cans. I saw them as I walked into his little house on Lexington Avenue where he was living at that time. As I walked through the foyer, I could see lots of these soup can paintings leaning against the wall . . . I said, “I think they’re terrific, Andy. Would you think about selling them in my gallery?” He said oh, he’d be thrilled, that he had no gallery at that time, had absolutely no commitment then. And I agreed right then and there to show the series . . . 16 x 20 inch pictures of soup cans . . . I remember ringing the gallery with 32 of these paintings, looking at them. Having sold five or six of them, I decided after I was into the exhibition some two weeks, that the series was just incredibly compelling and really intriguing, and really fascinating as a group. And I called Andy up and I said, “I’ll tell you what I think. I think the paintings should stay together as a series, in toto. If I can manage that. I’ve sold five or six but I going to try and get them back." . . . He said they were conceived as a series and that’s really the way he thought of them; as a group . . . So I called the six people and explained exactly what had occurred . . . And everyone said they would give up their painting. They were very generous. And I called Andy up and said, “I’ve got them together, I’d like to keep them.” Andy said, “Fine.” . . . The audience was minuscule – it began as an audience composed mainly of artists. And it filtered up very slowly from that."

Warhol’s 32 Soup Flavors – Smithsonian Libraries and Archives / Unbound

blog.library.si.edu