The Legacy of My Grandfathers
I recently read a letter written from Alice Walker, which really moved me during this time of transtion. While my political views are private, we are now in a historic time that will change and affect all of us, both on personal and professional levels. I have thought about how as a community we must come to support one another in this time of great challenge and transition. My own family has been affected by great historical challenges, and now, looking at the challenges that we face as a community, I have gone back to look at how history weaves itself into the very fabric of who I am.
Both of my grandfathers were Methodist ministers, one in North Alabama, one in South Alabama, integrating the Methodist Church in the 1950's and 60's. While both of them were vocal about standing up for their beliefs, their involvement affected the families in two completely opposite ways.
Powers McLeod Sr., Poppa, as we called him, was active in Mobile and Auburn, Alabama. He was a vital force in assisting one of the first African American students attending Auburn University. My father's side of the family is vocal about his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, and during family reunions or gatherings, stories will be told about his experiences. A book of his stories, Southern Accents...Different Voices: Little-Known Southerns Who Fought Racial Injustice Before it was Fashionable To Do So, was published before his death, stories about his grandfather who stood between the innocent and evil, stories about family and the voices which influenced his life. In addition, we are privileged to have audio of several sermons, his voice deep and passionate.
My grandfather on my mother's side, Duncan Hunter is 91 years old, still living in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. While he is no longer able to travel the five miles down the street to the First United Methodist Church, he sifts through piles of papers and articles on his kitchen table. During the Civil Rights Movement, he lived in Huntsville, Alabama and traveled all over the state. He would never tell you that he was one of several white ministers walking in the march through Selma, Alabama. He would never tell you about the crosses burning in his front yard, the neighbor who warned him of the lynch mob coming to get him, his friends who voted against his Bishop-ship, nor the times when his daughters, including my mother hid in the hallway closet. He was so affected by the events during that decade, that he would not speak of anything that happened.
I have a bookshelf filled with the books, audio recordings and pictures of Poppa, something that I will pass down to another generation of children someday. Granddad Hunter gave me permission to go through several boxes which contained sermon notes, newspaper clippings, copies of a Black Manifesto and his letter in response to it, pictures of the first African American students at The University of Alabama among dozens of pictures without names or dates. Now comes the daunting task on preserving these glimpses into history. I was unaware of how both of my grandfather's put their lives in danger everyday-- for freedom, and as I sift through these items, I have the privilege of knowing both of my grandfathers in new ways.
I have thought about my grandfathers' journeys through integrating the Methodist church periodically. In 1997, when I stayed in a youth hostel in Alice Springs, Australia and a white woman was in my face cussing me out about those filthy stinkin' Abos, I thought about my response long after that confrontation.
Even now, I think about my grandfathers when Barton and I continue to experience non-inclusion in our community because he has a disability. I think about my grandfathers as I edit a manuscript from one of the first African American School Superintendents of Wake County. I think about my grandfathers when the first African American was nominated as the next President of the United States; how in some way, my grandfathers were part of this historical moment in time.
My prayer is that I can live up to my grandfathers' legacy, that I can stand up for what I believe, providing a voice to those who have no voice, to offer healing in times of despair and to believe that we can overcome the obstacles that face us every day.
|
