Abraham Lincoln

Why would anyone want to vandalize a monument in memory of the great Abe Lincoln?

Sure, he didn't think that blacks could be assimilated into white society, he rejected the notion of social equality of the races, he thought that blacks were both mentally and physically inferior to whites, Lincoln supported segregation in the North, told darky jokes and used the N-word in public and private and held to the view that blacks should be resettled abroad.

That's right.  As President, he supported projects to remove blacks from the United States.  Phase one was to emancipate them because black slaves were a free labor force and they were taking jobs away from whites.  Abe wanted to prevent slavery from spreading west where there were soon to be new job opportunities and since the government couldn't take the blacks away from slave owners, he needed to free the blacks so they were not considered property.

Phase two after freeing them was to expatriate all the blacks but he didn't live long enough to see that project through.

In June 1862, Lincoln signed a law abolishing slavery in all the federal territories, and in July he read to his Cabinet a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation, which would give the Confederacy 100 days to lay down arms or he would declare all slaves in those states to be free. He issued that threat publicly in September.

Meanwhile, he was signing orders authorizing a project to relocate blacks to Central America. That quickly failed, however, when Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica protested.  Other options in the Caribbean and Texas were explored  but were quickly dismissed as impractical.  Sending the slaves back to Africa would be too costly.

By late 1864, it became apparent that the North would eventually win the war, and in January 1865 the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was passed, prohibiting slavery throughout the United States.

Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered April 9, 1865. Lincoln, meanwhile, continued to search for a way to relocate the nation's blacks, who were now free.  But just five days later, on April 14, 1865, he was assassinated.

Had Lincoln lived, the racial mix, the demographer’s dream, the ethnic rainbow, the gorgeous mosaic that makes and made this country great, would most likely not exist today.

Why would anyone want to vandalize a monument in memory of the great Abe Lincoln?

Now if he were to expatriate all our politicians . . .

Columbus Haiku

So, like, you know, I mean, uhm . . . why does this man get a holiday named after him?

When Columbus and his sailors came ashore, not anywhere near what we call the United States today, the Arawaks ran to greet them, bringing them food, water and gifts. He later wrote of this in his log:

"They . . . brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned . . . They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features . . . .They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane . . . They would make fine servants . . . .With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want."

He later wrote:
"As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts. Thus the eternal God, our Lord, gives victory to those who follow His way over apparent impossibilities." 

On his second expedition he captured several hundred of the natives and chained them up in his ships to return them to Spain.  Most of them died en-route.  Christopher wrote:
"Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold."

Many of Columbus' men had roamed the island in gangs looking for gold, taking women and children as slaves for sex and labor.  While trying to put together an army of resistance, the Arawaks faced Spaniards who had armor, muskets, swords, horses. The Spaniards took prisoners, they hanged them, beheaded them or burned them to death. Among the Arawaks, mass suicides began by using Cassava poison. Infants were poisoned by their parents in order to save them from Columbus and his men.

In two years, through murder, mutilation or suicide, half of the 250,000 natives on Haiti were dead.  Happy Columbus Day.

Back in my youth when I erroneously thought that Columbus landed on Plymouth Rock, I wrote this Columbus Day Haiku.  Despite this Haiku's inaccuracies, it still holds truth. 

Out of Spain on ships
Was Christopher Columbus
Exploring new worlds

Hispaniola?  North
Or South America?  Eh,
It’s all the same place

Chris discovered it
Notwithstanding existing
Aborigines

Indigenous race
Crossed from the Bering Land Bridge
Many moons ago

Chris called them “Red Skins”
But they were Cherokee, Sioux,
Shawnee, Iroquois,

Algonquin, Mohawk,
Pawnee, Cheyenne, Apache,
Black Feet, Hopis too

At one with the earth
A proud and noble nation
Filled with the spirit-

Of Waken-Tonka:
Holy Creator Spirit
(An open secret)

Father Mother God
Creates the earth so all may
Live in harmony

Bees make their honey
Black Eyed Susan’s fill the fields
And mind their seasons

Natives farmed the land
They hunted bison for food
We hunted for sport

They shared their land, their
Hunting ground, and, gave us hope
We gave them smallpox

Who stands in the way
Of manifest destiny
And ethnic cleansing?

The savage heathens
They did not worship our God
Exterminate them

Take their land and food
Displace to reservations
HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Ply them with liquor
Live where we tell you to live
Take it or leave it

We all seek the same-
Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jew:
Compassion and love.

Even Jesus said
“The Kingdom of Heaven is
Within you.”  Alas

We too much seek the
Messenger and fail to hear
The message: ”Serve and

Love one another”
To know, and yet, not to do,
Means we do not know

-Malcolm Kogut.

Minnewaska State Park

Minnewaska State Park is a wonderful place to hike, bike or horseback ride.  There are several layered escarpments with a circuitous network of trails layered between them.  The Shawangunk (often pronounced Shongum) Mountains or The Gunks, meaning "smokey air," is a ridge of bedrock in the Catskills. 

For the best blueberry picking, hike (no bikes or horses allowed yet as the recent hurricane made the trail impassible for both) the Hamilton Point Trail beneath the power lines heading toward the Pallmaghatt Kill or between HPT and Castle Point Trail.  The best, biggest and sweetest berries are near the power lines.  Hmmmph . . .

Make sure you visit the stone beach at Awosting Lake.  The Hamilton Point Trail has the most exciting escarpment trail.  For the climber and explorer, there are some exciting scree fields beneath this escarpment. 

My poor front yard

Inundated with invasive flowers;  Trumpet Vine, Rose of Sharon, black Eyed Susan, Delphinium, wild sunflower, Phlox, Hosta, Daisy, and many more.

"Sing" As played by Oscar Peterson

Rye Bread Music Festival

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG8A_vCd_JQ

In Upstate NY there is a little known music festival that has been going strong for 37 years:  Rye Bread.  The festival started out by invitation only and remains small and intimate to this day.  It attracts about 300 people and many of the concert goers have been attending year after year.  The beauty of this festival as opposed to larger ones, such as Bisco, is that the crowd is smaller, it costs only $20 and it is very welcoming to families and pets.  Bad behavior is not tolerated and not only will you be asked to leave but, the person who invited you will also be banned - so I hear.  Over the weekend I did not witness any bad behavior on anyone's part.  This festival is not designed to make money and is very much like a mini Woodstock of peace, love and music.  Even the bands play for free. 

As a hiker, there is a phenomenon called "trail magic," where everyone treats one another on the trail as an old friend and is willing to share food, water, directions and stories.  That same relaxed magic is immediately evident at Rye Bread.  You can be walking by someone's camp and they will invite you in for food or a drink and you will be treated as if they had known you for years.  This was my first time at Rye Bread and I immediately felt at home with everyone I encountered. 

Rye Bread.

Oscar Peterson

Oscar Peterson will be inducted into the Canada Walk of Fame on September 21, 2013 at the Elgin Theater.  ROAD TRIP!  Oscar has had a very distinguished musical career spanning over six decades.  He has recorded over 200 albums, won eight Grammy Awards and received sixteen doctorates from both American and Canadian universities.  He has also won many awards as best jazz pianist. 

Many of my musical friends know that I am a huge fan of Oscar.  Both he and the music of Bach can render me breathless when I listen to them.  Back in the early 80's Oscar had a television show and I taped every episode on video cassette.  Here is a track called "City Lights." I hope after his induction someone will re-release the series in digital format.  My apologies in advance for the quality, hiss and clicks of my recording.

I have a friend who took piano lessons from Oscar.  She had many wonderful stories about him although many of them revolved around racism and the discrimination Oscar faced here in the US.  In Canada where Oscar was from, racism wasn't much of an issue, at least it wasn't spoken.  But, here in the US Oscar experienced it a lot and rarely quailed in the face of prejudice. 

Oscar once went into a barber shop to have his hair cut and the barber said that he was closing.  Just then a white man walked in and sat in the chair and the barber began to cut his hair.  Oscar confronted the barber to no avail and then went to the police station to report it.  They said it was a civil issue, not criminal. 

Another time he went into a store for a pack of cigarettes and all he had on him was a twenty.  The cashier asked him where he got so much money and if he had stolen it.  Oscar said it was legally obtained cash and the cashier threw Oscar's change on the floor.  Oscar was going to confront him but there was a cop standing nearby who said "Pick it up, boy" and placed his hand on his gun.  Oscar left the store and sat in his car waiting for the police officer to leave but his bass player Ray brown convinced him to let it go.

Another time when Oscar was playing the Jazz at the Philharmonic tour, the concert manger, Norman Granz, insisted that the concert hall organizers not segregate the audience by color.  The police were called and three officers went backstage where they discovered some of the black musicians playing cards.  They were all arrested on trumped up gambling charges and were taken to the police station.  Norman paid their bail and immediately called his lawyer who advised him to just pay the fines which I beleive totaled to about $5,000.  One of the musicians was Ella Fitzgerald and she was livid.