Peter and Mabel's Traveling Blog: 2013

Sunday, December 8, 2013

The Deep South

Over the past two weeks we have toured the Deep South and have seen a lot. Impossible to relay everything on this site, so what follows only scratches the surface of all we saw and heard.

From the church in Kenner LA, we drove to Natchez, MS, founded in 1716, which makes it the oldest European settlement on the Mississippi. Very historic, very interesting. In its day it was a bustling port and the fourth wealthiest pre-civil war city in America – after NY, Boston, Philadelphia. As in New Orleans, there are many antibellum (before civil war) homes which are gorgeous. We toured Longwood, which they stopped building in 1863 because that’s when the life of privilege in Natchez came to an end – so Longwood is unique in that you get to see the completed ground floor but the other four floors have been left the way they were when building stopped. The more you see of antibellum plantation homes the more you have to think about how these homes were built and maintained on the backs of slave labour.

Also toured the William Johnson House built by (you guessed it) William Johnson, son of a white master and a mulatto slave woman. His father freed him when he was 11 and he went on to set up three barber shops in Natchez and became very well acquainted with Natchez business and political class. Next was the African American History Museum – featuring stories and information about interesting black people from Natchez – including author Richard Wright, whose most important books were Native Son and Black Boy, a heart wrenching story about his childhood and youth in the Jim Crow South, and in Chicago. In this museum we met a lady who had grown up in Natchez who said Natchez’ schools weren’t integrated till 1990! and that now besides the official school integrated prom, there is also an unofficial whites only prom.

Love the history, but much of it is difficult . The most difficult spot to visit was Forks of the Road – just outside of historic downtown Natchez. This is the site of the second largest slave market in the deep south. Slaves would be brought from the East by sea via Florida, New Orleans, and up the Mississippi, or down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, or - the hardest route - on land via the Natchez Trace. Good signage explaining the horrendous events that happened here. We posted some of the advertisements for newly arrived slaves. Slavery and the slave trade ended in Natchez in 1863 – when Union Forces freed Natchez from the Confederacy without a fight. Ironically some of the Black Union soldiers on guard at Forks of the Road had been sold as slaves on the same spot years earlier.

Vicksburg, Mississippi is the site of one of the most important battles of the Civil War, which was won by Union forces giving them control of the Mississippi River, a turning point in the war. We took the 16 mile tour through the Vicksburg National Military Park on the site of the battle. Historical markers explained where the armies from each state – Union and Confederate were positioned and where actual combat took place. Sometimes the armies were so close that soldiers could see the whites in each other’s eyes. Soldiers from opposing sides were known to fight each other by day and chat with each other at night after orders to cease fighting had been given.

The red sign is where the Confederate Army was located the blue sign in the background is where the Union Army was situated.

17,000 Union soldiers are buried in the cemetery in the Military park. 13,000 were unidentified soldiers who had originally been buried right where they died and were later moved to the cemetery. The confederate soldiers are buried in a town cemetery.

We drove to Birmingham AL, where some of the most significant marches for Civil Rights took place in the '60s. People marched for Black voting rights (necessary because many state and local requirements prevented Blacks from voting), for the right to drink from the same water fountains, and the right to eat in white-owned cafes. These marches and boycotts were organized and led by local pastors who invited Martin Luther King Jr to help. We attended Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, one of the local churches involved in the planning of the marches and where King preached often. It is also the site of the September 15, 1963 bombing which killed four girls, aged 12 – 14. We heard Pastor Arthur Price give a powerful sermon on this first Sunday of Advent about Jesus who “exchanged divinity for humanity – without losing any of his divinity”. Such a good command of language – wonderful oratory, e.g. “God’s divinity and glory was cloaked by his humanity…. Every now and then a glimpse of God’s glory was seen in the miracles he did… (such as) when he turned a box lunch into a anti-poverty program”.

We also walked the Civil Rights Heritage Trail, the routes two of the marches took, which have many historical markers explaining specific events that happened along the march route. Also toured the “Civil Rights Institute” – across the road from the church. These bronzed shoes, at the beginning of the trail, were a poignant reminder of the death of the four girls.

From Birmingham we drove to Montgomery, Alabama’s state capital. In spite of the advice from the lady in the RV campground office, (“Y’all are best off takin a taxi”), we took the bus into downtown Montgomery. It is an event in itself for white people to take the bus into Montgomery – where, it could be argued, the Civil Rights movement began – and to sit in the back of the bus. Enjoyed a guided tour of Dexter Street Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King served as pastor from 1954 – 1960 and the parsonage. There is only one building between the church and the Capitol. Dr. King could see the

KKK gathering on the steps from his office window.

In 1955 King, Rev. Ralph Abernathy and a number of other local leaders/pastors organized the well-known Montgomery bus boycott after Rosa Parks had been arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man. Originally planned as a one day boycott, it lasted a little more than a year, and was supported by the entire Black community of Montgomery. People still had to get to work, so car pools and other transportation options needed to be planned.

We stood on the site where Rosa Parks boarded

that bus.

Tons more to say, but will leave it at that. As we hear world response to the death of Nelson Mandela, having just come from Montgomery, we can’t help but think of the similarities between Apartheid and the spirit of the Jim Crow laws in the US South.

Destin, Florida. Our first day back on the ocean was a foggy one with a momentary glimpse of the sun. From here we go toTampa, Florida where we'll stay until we fly home on the 17th. Our thoughts and prayers have been with our church family these past two weeks with the sudden death of Paul, a former member, and of Jan, who died after suffering much pain from cancer. We pray that God will give their family and friends comfort and peace.

Monday, November 25, 2013

New Orleans and DRS

A quick update on our travels since our last post: After Houston, we spent a few days at Crystal Beach on Texas’ Bolivar peninsula, close to Galveston. Beautiful beach and it was fun to be able to park the RV right on the beach. This peninsula was under 12 feet of water after Hurricane Ike came through in 2008, so almost all of the homes along the shoreline are new and are now on huge 15 – 20 feet high stilts. Flood insurance is very expensive, and islanders are apparently upset that the Texas government has passed legislation allowing insurance companies to charge rates that actually reflect the flood risk.

From there we made our way to New Orleans where we arrived on Oct 30. We took a walk through an area on the other side of a levee from where we were camped - our first look at a neighbourhood that suffered significant damage from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. About one fourth of the lots are vacant, the destroyed homes having been moved off the site. Had an interesting chat with a fellow named Nicky who told the story of how he and his aging mother experienced Katrina. The water was 18 ft. high for three weeks. The next day we were joined by John and Marge Roukema, who were also traveling North America but were heading West. We met in NO and spent a few lovely days together. We visited the beautiful, old St. Louis Cathedral, enjoyed Café au Lait and beignets in NO’s famous Café du Monde, walked NO’s Garden District, rode the streetcar, visited the historic St. Louis Cemetery but mostly we wandered the French Quarter – including a rainy but warm Halloween, (not necessarily a good idea – Bourbon St. is wacked enough on a regular night).

The original Cafe du Monde was opened in 1862.
The place is packed all day long.

We visited the St. Louis Cemetery. People in New Orleans have to be buried above ground because the water table is so high. After Hurricane Isaac some of the underground coffins were floating in LaPlace.

While we were volunteering in LaPlace we had the
weekends off. We visited a plantation, took a swamp tour and a ride on this old fashioned steamboat. There are only two steamboats left in the USA that run totally by steam. We saw a lot of alligators on the swamp tour through the bayou.

Disaster Response Services

DRS

We just completed three weeks of serving as volunteers with World Renew’s Disaster Response Service (DRS). Our team of 18 volunteers worked on 4 different homes that were heavily damaged by Hurricane Isaac in September, 2012 in LaPlace, Louisiana, half an hour north of New Orleans. With the entire team, we billeted in the Kenner United Methodist Church, where DRS has converted second floor classrooms into dormitory style rooms. It was a wonderful team of committed, mostly skilled (present company excepted) people, who work hard and enjoy good fun and fellowship.

The home where Peter spent most of the time, is actually a trailer which has had a number of sections added over the years. It is the home of Ms Earline Wilson, who has consented to our posting these pictures and writing about her. Earline has lived on the property for 60 of her 62 years, first in a house, and when that was torn down, in the trailer since 1978. The trailer is home for Earline, and two granddaughters aged 13 and 21. When we arrived, this home was in terrible shape and our job was to tear down a wall and extend a small kitchen into an addition which was not complete and was only being used for storage. After tearing down the wall, our team of up to five people insulated, dry walled, taped, sanded, straightened out the floor, and painted the new floors, giving Earline about twice as much living space as she had before. There were also a number of unexpected problems with the plumbing and she ended up getting a new bathroom. (The floor turned out to be totally rotten.) Besides Hurricane Isaac, Earline has endured many other trials and challenges, and we are so glad to have been part of this project for her.

Mabel did a lot of painting, mudded and taped dry wall, sanded and mudded some more, and sanded and mudded some more, grouted two bathtubs and laid floor tiles. We have worked hard but it has been a wonderful experience. It is a bit like going to camp – sleeping in dorms, delicious food cooked by someone else, devotions and singing, playing games, or puzzling in the evening. At the end of the three weeks we feel like we have know these people for a long time. We learned a lot of new skills and feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to meet our clients and to be part of an organization that gives "a cup of water" in the name of Jesus. The clients are so thankful that God has brought us all into their lives. They testify to God's faithfulness to them despite the horrific things they have gone through. We and most of our DRS team went to church with Earline - which was wonderful! It was what you would expect a Southern African American church to be like. Rich singing and powerful preaching!

Another client whose house we worked on told her Hurricane Isaac story. There was absolutely no notice. She heard a sound and looked out the back door to see what the sound was and the water rushed into her home. She had just come home from the hospital after chemo treatment for stomach cancer and was very weak. She told me that she prayed to God and God provided a neighbour's boat at her front door. She got in to the boat and floated down her street picking up neighbours. One young woman didn't want to get on the boat because she was too distraught. The flood waters had just ripped her twin babies out of her arms and carried them away. Our client convinced her to get into the boat and calmed her down with the story of Job. About 3 months after the hurricane a group came to gut her house to get rid of the moldy drywall etc. She didn't have money to fix her home because she spent all her money on chemo. She told me that she lost everything, but she had her life. She was so grateful for everything and praised God for his faithfulness.

One of many homes in the 9th Ward, NO that has been abandoned.

We left Kenner Saturday morning and already the new team of volunteers from Canada and the US were arriving to take over our rooms for the next three week stint. We have gained a deep appreciation for DRS - the organization, its leaders and the "greenshirts" who do the site work. DRS is presently serving at five locations across North America, and has been in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 - ongoing: one three week team after another for most of the year. DRS places teams in homes that have been identified by the board of the local Long Term Relief Organization, which represents a number of churches and community groups. People receive assistance after they have met certain criteria, which will have been determined by an interview with Needs Assessment people and a visit to the site. For more on how DRS operates, just go to http://worldrenew.net/greenshirts.

Back at "camp" after a hard days work.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

TEXAS

When we entered Texas from New Mexico, we quickly understood that we were entering “the great state of Texas”. Wide, concrete, good highways where the speed limit is 80mph. A road sign said: El Paso 6 miles; Beaumont 854 miles. (West to East.) After miles and miles of oilfields we arrived in Dallas on October 15 where we spent of couple of days with our good friends John and Lynn Beimers. It was wonderful to spend some time with them.

The 6^th floor museum was awesome. Like all people over 58, we remember the day of the JFK assassination very well. It was amazing to be in the very spot where Lee Harvey Oswald (according to the Warren Commission – all conspiracy theories aside) took his three shots that felled JFK. What was the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository has been converted into a museum where all the angles of the Kennedy assassination are thoroughly covered. The audio guide, visual displays and videos which also included coverage of the three years of the JFK presidency and his legacy were very engaging.

J&L standing on the grassy knoll. Many people who were there said that the gun shots came from behind the grassy knoll. It is forever referred to as the grassy knoll because a reporter called it that after the shooting.

Peter pointing to the sixth floor window on the
far right from which the shot was taken.

View that Oswald had from the 6th

floor window. (Trees have grown!)

The set for Raisin in the Sun.

The night we arrived, we went to the Dallas Theatre Center to see Raisin in the Sun the 1959 play by Lorraine Hansberry – the first African American woman to write a play produced on Broadway. It’s about a 1950’s black family who, in their quest to follow the American Dream in Chicago’s south side, wants to move to a white neighbourhood, but is prevented from doing so by the “neighbourhood association” of the white community. Very well done. In the 60’s the movie version came out (starring Sidney Poitier) which I remember seeing in high school. Hansberry’s own family made this move in the 50’s and contested “restrictive covenants” (preventing blacks from moving into white neighbourhoods) all the way to the US Supreme Court making them illegal. Two nights later we were back to see Bruce Norris’s Clybourne Park which deals with that same neighbourhood 50 years later and wonders how much things have really changed in race relations. Thought provoking, but not as well done as Raisin – we both thought.

Harlem

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore-

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over-

Like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

By Langston Hughes

The front facade of the Alamo

On to San Antonio. The main attraction here is the Alamo. Tremendous place. Learned a lot about Texan, Mexican and US history here and the story of the siege and capture of the Alamo. But just as interesting for us, was the demonstration by the local gun lobby right in front of the Alamo that just happened to be going on that morning. Already when we parked the RV, an Iraqi war vet was telling us that we just had to see this demonstration, that our second amendment rights have been slipping away, and that it was time to take a stand. He then went on to explain that Obamacare was a disaster, etc. I tried to point out that socialized medical care is working well in Western Europe and Canada, and hoped that the US would eventually be able to make that transition. I don't know the details of why it's "not working", but do know that a well-run government health care saves the taxpayer a lot of money and provides health care for all. He was not convinced and for him it was an intense conversation.

When we got to the Alamo, there must have been a couple hundred people, many carrying guns to express their right to bear arms. During a rant by Alex Jones, a popular radio talk show host, we were interviewed by a couple of journalists from The Texas Observer. They included a few of our comments in their write-up – which you can read at http://www.texasobserver.org/alamo-protesters-get-arms/ . San Antonio police were on hand as well just in case things got out of hand.

Gun toting American citizens taking the Pledge of Allegiance

The number one attraction in San Antonio - The River Walk. The River Walk is two parallel sidewalks
along the San Antonio River lined with many restaurants and shops.

On one of the bridges that allow you to get to the 'other side'.

We are in Houston for a few days before we head down to the Gulf Coast towards New Orleans. We have been accepted by World Renew’s Disaster Relief Service to volunteer for two weeks in early November in La Place, Louisiana – very close to New Orleans, which is still recovering from Hurricane Isaac in 2012. You can google that. Hope you are all well. We'd love to hear from you.