The Black Dude Dies First
Whoever told the stories shaped the histories.44 total reviews
Comment from Scarbrems
This is a very moving post, Sis Cat. I kind of wish I could hear you telling it on stage. Sounds like your Mom was a pretty amazing woman.
I'm ashamed to admit I'd never heard of Benjamin Banneker, nor Crispus Attucks, but that's probably because as a white kid growing up in Britain, I'd have been taught even less about black Americans than you guys were. So thanks for the education.
British black comedian Lenny Henry spoke often of the fate of black men on TV. He said, in his house, the whole family would get excited if a black guy managed to get one line on TV, even if the line was, 'fried onion rings' in a TV ad.
reply by the author on 08-Feb-2016
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This is a very moving post, Sis Cat. I kind of wish I could hear you telling it on stage. Sounds like your Mom was a pretty amazing woman.
I'm ashamed to admit I'd never heard of Benjamin Banneker, nor Crispus Attucks, but that's probably because as a white kid growing up in Britain, I'd have been taught even less about black Americans than you guys were. So thanks for the education.
British black comedian Lenny Henry spoke often of the fate of black men on TV. He said, in his house, the whole family would get excited if a black guy managed to get one line on TV, even if the line was, 'fried onion rings' in a TV ad.
Comment Written 07-Feb-2016
reply by the author on 08-Feb-2016
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Well, Sarkems, since you kind of wish you could hear me telling my story on stage, I am giving you my YouTube link of my performance of "The Black Dude Dies First" last Saturday. This is how I performed the story: https://youtu.be/_cJAUCv57po
Yes, my mother was an amazing woman. She would have been thrilled to hear people's praise of her efforts. Thanks for your review.
Comment from JTStone
Cool story and the notes that follow made it even more interesting.
Your mother was an amazing woman. I remember your story about finding your own past. She was a proud woman and artist/poet. She instilled a strong set of values into you and your brother and sister.
This was an excellent, Black Lives Matter, piece. It was punctuated by revealing that Crispus Attucks, an Afro-American, wasn't only the first man to die in the revolution, but a leader among men--all men. Facts like that are always easily overlooked by an ignorant public. Thank you for enlightening me on this.
Jimmy
reply by the author on 10-Feb-2016
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Cool story and the notes that follow made it even more interesting.
Your mother was an amazing woman. I remember your story about finding your own past. She was a proud woman and artist/poet. She instilled a strong set of values into you and your brother and sister.
This was an excellent, Black Lives Matter, piece. It was punctuated by revealing that Crispus Attucks, an Afro-American, wasn't only the first man to die in the revolution, but a leader among men--all men. Facts like that are always easily overlooked by an ignorant public. Thank you for enlightening me on this.
Jimmy
Comment Written 07-Feb-2016
reply by the author on 10-Feb-2016
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Yes, Jimmy, my mother was an amazing woman. I am grateful for this opportunity to share her story and Attucks' in this "excellent, Black Lives Matter, piece." Thank you for your review.
Comment from jpduck
I found this a captivating and heartwarming piece, Andre. It's origins as a piece of oral storytelling, giving it a dynamic presence. Thank you.
Adrian
reply by the author on 07-Feb-2016
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I found this a captivating and heartwarming piece, Andre. It's origins as a piece of oral storytelling, giving it a dynamic presence. Thank you.
Adrian
Comment Written 07-Feb-2016
reply by the author on 07-Feb-2016
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Yes, Adrian, I used a different technique to craft this story. I just got up on stage and started telling my story even though I did not know where my story was going or how it would end. Early audiences stated that they empathized with my mother. As a result, I made this story less about me and more about her relationship when I increased her role. I am thrilled that audiences and reviewers enjoy our story. Thank you for your review.
Comment from ~Dovey
Hi Sis Cat,
This is an enlightening non-fiction story. I enjoyed the autobiographical nature of the piece and your reaction to the situation. The message sent by your mother was strong, in not wanting her son to be a cliché or become an unfortunately statistic at an early age. Clearly, she did a good job instilling excellent morals and a sense of accomplishment in you. I think sharing this story is a good way to dispel the cliché and focus on important contributions to US history.
Good luck in the contest.
Kim
reply by the author on 10-Feb-2016
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Hi Sis Cat,
This is an enlightening non-fiction story. I enjoyed the autobiographical nature of the piece and your reaction to the situation. The message sent by your mother was strong, in not wanting her son to be a cliché or become an unfortunately statistic at an early age. Clearly, she did a good job instilling excellent morals and a sense of accomplishment in you. I think sharing this story is a good way to dispel the cliché and focus on important contributions to US history.
Good luck in the contest.
Kim
Comment Written 07-Feb-2016
reply by the author on 10-Feb-2016
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Thank you, Kim, for your review and compliments for both my mother and my writing. I am grateful I shared our story. Thanks.
Comment from Jim Lorson Sr
Sis Cat, first let me say that I am sorry for your loss. No matter our age it is still quite difficult to lose a parent.
Growing up in a small Ohio town in the 50's and early 60's, I believe we were shielded from what was black, what was white. We were all friends though I went to Catholic grade school. We only had one black family in our parish which was located on the Southeast side of town. Michael and I were the best of friends as all of our classmates were.
As I grew and started working in the factories in the city, my friendship with the blacks that I didn't know grew. There was no us against them, we were the best of friends even when the civil rights movement was gaining attention.
So, what I am saying as a 67 year old white man, I praise your mother and her friends for bringing to the forefront the black history week that is now seen as black history month. That beginning allowed me to learn more about the black or African-American culture.
I read this with great story and thinking how I now miss my black friends. Some have passed on, most moved away. I am very happy that you gave us a very important history lesson.
Thank you for sharing this with us.
I wish you happiness and good fortune for the future.
I hope you have a great Sunday,
Jim Lorson sr
reply by the author on 10-Feb-2016
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Sis Cat, first let me say that I am sorry for your loss. No matter our age it is still quite difficult to lose a parent.
Growing up in a small Ohio town in the 50's and early 60's, I believe we were shielded from what was black, what was white. We were all friends though I went to Catholic grade school. We only had one black family in our parish which was located on the Southeast side of town. Michael and I were the best of friends as all of our classmates were.
As I grew and started working in the factories in the city, my friendship with the blacks that I didn't know grew. There was no us against them, we were the best of friends even when the civil rights movement was gaining attention.
So, what I am saying as a 67 year old white man, I praise your mother and her friends for bringing to the forefront the black history week that is now seen as black history month. That beginning allowed me to learn more about the black or African-American culture.
I read this with great story and thinking how I now miss my black friends. Some have passed on, most moved away. I am very happy that you gave us a very important history lesson.
Thank you for sharing this with us.
I wish you happiness and good fortune for the future.
I hope you have a great Sunday,
Jim Lorson sr
Comment Written 07-Feb-2016
reply by the author on 10-Feb-2016
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Thank you, Jim, for your encouraging, six star review. Yes, this story is a time capsule because it showed the need for African Americans to celebrate Black History Week back in the 1970s. None of us dreamed that it would turn into a month, but that is exactly what happened in 1976 when Gerald Ford expanded the celebration to a month. Now, forty years later, I am performing my story on stage throughout San Francisco. Here is a video of my performance last Saturday: https://youtu.be/_cJAUCv57po
Thank you for sharing your memories of your childhood and of the black friends you knew and lost. Thank you also for your condolences. My mother's passing forced me into becoming a storyteller. Once again, thanks.
Comment from giraffmang
Hi Andre,
A very well written piece and moving.
I have to admit to being a little confused by the extent of your mother's dismay at your initial casting. As the role was of a black man, it would make sense for it to be cast that way. Surely there would be more outcry at a white child 'blacked-up'. Of course, I am not black, nor did I live in those times at that place, so this is only speculative, on my part.
I can see the love and commitment to the cause demonstrated by your mother though in not easy times, which is admirable and courageous. Again I think it is something hard to comprehend when 'alien' to us.
Great piece
G
reply by the author on 10-Feb-2016
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Hi Andre,
A very well written piece and moving.
I have to admit to being a little confused by the extent of your mother's dismay at your initial casting. As the role was of a black man, it would make sense for it to be cast that way. Surely there would be more outcry at a white child 'blacked-up'. Of course, I am not black, nor did I live in those times at that place, so this is only speculative, on my part.
I can see the love and commitment to the cause demonstrated by your mother though in not easy times, which is admirable and courageous. Again I think it is something hard to comprehend when 'alien' to us.
Great piece
G
Comment Written 07-Feb-2016
reply by the author on 10-Feb-2016
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Thank you, G., for your review. Based upon what I know now about Crispus Attucks (and this information was available in 1976) I wish my teacher had me frame the role differently to acknowledge his contribution to the fight for liberty. He was a runaway slave, a fugitive who cherished freedom so much that he led an "army" of fifty colonists to resist British occupation. Representing the soldiers in their self defense trial, John Adams, the future second President of the United States, blamed "mad" Attucks for the Boston Massacre because he "appears to have undertaken to be the hero of the night; and to lead this army." After Adams became the President, he praised Attucks, "The world will never forget the noble daring and excusable rashness of Crispus Attucks in the holy cause of Liberty."
For the school play, my teacher instructed me to portray Attucks as a passive victim who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The historical records show otherwise. It is this other story, this fuller story I wish I could have portrayed.
It might have been too much for parents and administrators to see children reenact the Boston Massacre on stage. Instead, our production opted for Paul Revere and Minute Men. An interesting fact, the American army was in such a desperate need for soldiers, that slave owner General George Washington instructed recruiters to recruit black freemen and slaves faster than the British could. As a result, blacks comprised 20% to 25% of the army, but in popular culture, from this play to textbooks, only whites are shown fighting. It is these biases I wish to redress.
Nevertheless, I am grateful for this opportunity to tell not only my story and my mother's, but Attucks' story. Thank you for your review.
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Hi Andre,
Now I get your mother's frustration. A meaningful life reduced down to a small cameo is rather belittling and belies the truth of the man. This I get.
Too often a lot of facts are glossed over (I am tempted to say whitewashed here - with a full meaning attached to the word). I am very week when it comes to some articles of history.
I have a degree in history (modern from 1890 onwards), but then, we all know who writes the books!
All the best
G
Comment from rama devi
What an adorable picture! Funny, I never realized you are male and black...because your pen name sounds feminine! I've had quite a few black friends...and feel like I know firsthand how it is to feel like a minority because I am one of only two Westerners working in the hospital here in India!
Love your story. Precious
When I was ten, I wrote a book report about Harriet Tubman ad told my parents I wanted to be just like her.
* Suggest using two dashes instead of ellipses here:
I felt that my ancestors . . .(--) my heroes(--) embraced me, too.
I felt that my ancestors--my heroes--embraced me, too.
Or, parenthesis would work well too:
I felt that my ancestors (my heroes) embraced me, too.
The pacing and storytelling style is superb. sentence mechanics, too. Just that one spag suggestions...otherwise, no nits!
Makes a great entry for the contest with the satisfying conclusion. A touching write. Good luck!
Warmly, rd
reply by the author on 10-Feb-2016
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What an adorable picture! Funny, I never realized you are male and black...because your pen name sounds feminine! I've had quite a few black friends...and feel like I know firsthand how it is to feel like a minority because I am one of only two Westerners working in the hospital here in India!
Love your story. Precious
When I was ten, I wrote a book report about Harriet Tubman ad told my parents I wanted to be just like her.
* Suggest using two dashes instead of ellipses here:
I felt that my ancestors . . .(--) my heroes(--) embraced me, too.
I felt that my ancestors--my heroes--embraced me, too.
Or, parenthesis would work well too:
I felt that my ancestors (my heroes) embraced me, too.
The pacing and storytelling style is superb. sentence mechanics, too. Just that one spag suggestions...otherwise, no nits!
Makes a great entry for the contest with the satisfying conclusion. A touching write. Good luck!
Warmly, rd
Comment Written 07-Feb-2016
reply by the author on 10-Feb-2016
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Rama, that you for your generous review and corrections. It took a lot of stage work for me to create this "precious" story. I just got up on stage and began telling my story even though I did not know how it would end. Audiences repeatedly cited my mother as the strongest element in my story. I revised my story to recall how and why she organized the Black History Week program.
Yes, I had a number of people state that the found the ending of my story satisfying because of the twist of my mother putting on the Black History Week program. I went from shame and despair to joy and a front page article.
I am glad you wrote your book report about Harriet Tubman. Her spirit lives in you.
Here is my video of my performance of "The Black Dude Dies First": https://youtu.be/_cJAUCv57po
Enjoy and, once again, thanks.
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Oh wow, thanks for saying that about Harriet Tubman and for your super gracious and generous response, my friend. I'm looking forward to viewing and hearing your performance as soon as my internet device's connectivity gets stronger (when i head back to hospital....here in ashram, the signal is too weak and fluctuating to load you tubes--it's an India thing).
Warmest Smiles, rd
Comment from Neil Austin
I congratulate you on your passion. I'm an Australian so this is not my history, but the same sort of bias is presented about the original, and modern, aboriginal folk of this land, in spite of the so many ways they showed kindness and attempted to share with the invaders.
I too am attempting to expand my story telling skills here.
I'm sorry I can't offer any real constructive insights, just I'd say work on getting 'punch' into it. As a stage performance I'm sure it has that. Maybe a bit more on the emotions, shame, pride etc. As it's your story I know that's all there, the hard bit for a writer is having your reader experience the same.
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
reply by the author on 08-Feb-2016
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I congratulate you on your passion. I'm an Australian so this is not my history, but the same sort of bias is presented about the original, and modern, aboriginal folk of this land, in spite of the so many ways they showed kindness and attempted to share with the invaders.
I too am attempting to expand my story telling skills here.
I'm sorry I can't offer any real constructive insights, just I'd say work on getting 'punch' into it. As a stage performance I'm sure it has that. Maybe a bit more on the emotions, shame, pride etc. As it's your story I know that's all there, the hard bit for a writer is having your reader experience the same.
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
Comment Written 07-Feb-2016
reply by the author on 08-Feb-2016
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You are right, Neil, the hard thing for a writer is replicating the stage experience to the page. I knew I risked losing a lot in translation when I posted my word-for-word script on FanStory. I will continue to focus my "punch" as a stage performance and posting my scripts here. Here is my YouTube video of my actual performance of the story: https://youtu.be/_cJAUCv57po
Thank you for your review.
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Oh gosh, thanks.
I'm on an island at the moment with a dodgy satellite for an internet connection, so utube is a real hit and miss.
I'll be back on the mainland next week and will mos def be checking it out.
Comment from Dean Kuch
More likely than not, Andre, your teacher, Mrs. Gilbert, chose you to play the role of Crispus Attucks for a couple of reasons.
One, you are black, and stated yourself in this story that you were one of but a handful of black children in your entire school, and,
Two, since there were so few black children who attended your school, and Cripus Attucks was admittedly a black Colonial insurgent fighting for our freedom against Britain, you fit the role best because of your abilities to act and perform. Had she chosen a white male student in, oh, let's say for argument's sake, black face, for example, then your mother would have had a legitimate beef.
There is nothing wrong with being proud of one's heritage. We should all be. Yet even today, too much is read into things when it concerns race, and the media is too quick on the trigger to play the race card. When people buy into that sort of nonsense, all it does is drive a more formidable wedge between us all.
I liked the way you told your story, It's very well written. You were obviously a born performer. Your performance as Crispus Attucks, in celebrating our nation's bicentennial, should have been applauded, and something to be proud of.
Oh, and by the way.
Attucks did die first in the Revolutionary War, so... I guess the movie makers got the horror/black thing right after all, heh-heh...
Great story, Andre.
Best of luck in the contest.
~Dean
reply by the author on 10-Feb-2016
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More likely than not, Andre, your teacher, Mrs. Gilbert, chose you to play the role of Crispus Attucks for a couple of reasons.
One, you are black, and stated yourself in this story that you were one of but a handful of black children in your entire school, and,
Two, since there were so few black children who attended your school, and Cripus Attucks was admittedly a black Colonial insurgent fighting for our freedom against Britain, you fit the role best because of your abilities to act and perform. Had she chosen a white male student in, oh, let's say for argument's sake, black face, for example, then your mother would have had a legitimate beef.
There is nothing wrong with being proud of one's heritage. We should all be. Yet even today, too much is read into things when it concerns race, and the media is too quick on the trigger to play the race card. When people buy into that sort of nonsense, all it does is drive a more formidable wedge between us all.
I liked the way you told your story, It's very well written. You were obviously a born performer. Your performance as Crispus Attucks, in celebrating our nation's bicentennial, should have been applauded, and something to be proud of.
Oh, and by the way.
Attucks did die first in the Revolutionary War, so... I guess the movie makers got the horror/black thing right after all, heh-heh...
Great story, Andre.
Best of luck in the contest.
~Dean
Comment Written 07-Feb-2016
reply by the author on 10-Feb-2016
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Thank you, Dean, for your generous review and notes. Based upon what I know now and the information that was available at the time of my school's Bicentennial play, I wish I could have portrayed Attucks more fully to acknowledge his contributions. Far from being a passive victim in the wrong place at the wrong time, he led Bostonians in a protest against British occupation of the city. Representing the British soldiers in their self-defense trial, the future second President of the United States, John Adams, describe Attucks as "mad" for leading an "army" against the British. After the lawyer Adams became President, he reversed and praised Attucks as a patriot "in the holy cause of Liberty." (I just love those lawyers!)
While I was not proud of the role of Attucks at the time, I am now proud of it because it represents the first time I performed on stage. There is no person I would have rather portrayed than America's "first to defy, first to die" rebel. Forty years later, I am still performing. Here is last Saturday's YouTube video of my performance of "The Black Dude Dies First":
https://youtu.be/_cJAUCv57po
Enjoy and thank you again for your thoughts and review.
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Thank you for providing the video link, Andre. I'll be sure to check it out.
And you are more than welcome for the review.
~Dean
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Thank you for providing the video link, Andre. I'll be sure to check it out.
And you are more than welcome for the review.
~Dean
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Thank you for providing the video link, Andre. I'll be sure to check it out.
And you are more than welcome for the review.
~Dean
Comment from trumby
very brave and commendable piece of writing, mate.
As the saying goes, "History is written by men who hanged heroes." It's tough being in the minority and having social problems.
The "perfect" people can't understand you and the people who CAN understand are too broke to do anything about it.
reply by the author on 07-Feb-2016
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very brave and commendable piece of writing, mate.
As the saying goes, "History is written by men who hanged heroes." It's tough being in the minority and having social problems.
The "perfect" people can't understand you and the people who CAN understand are too broke to do anything about it.
Comment Written 07-Feb-2016
reply by the author on 07-Feb-2016
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Trumby, thank you for your generous, six star review. As broke as my mother was, she did do something about "History is written by men who hanged heroes." She wrote the curriculum, conducted workshops, recommended multicultural books, and put on a play for her son and other black children. She worked to change the school from the inside out for decades. I am thrilled to finally share a bit of her story. Thank you again for your review.
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Look at my profile please. You'll see what I mean about being "in the minority with social problems." I've got brain damage.