"Eyes on the Prize" plus a bonus "Flash-Back" from my childhood

Doug — Tue, 08 Feb 2005 08:16:00 -0600

OK, today’s EyesOnTheScreen day. Tonight at 8:00pm I’ll be showing the first episode, “Awakenings 1954-1956”, of the “Eyes on the Prize” documentary at my church building. I’m excited about it. I feel like in a small way I’m participating in that age old conflict by remembering and highlighting it. I don’t know how many people will come. I’m afraid I’ll be disappointed if there are only three or four. I know of only three people who’ve confirmed to come. I’ll feel a bit silly making a big deal over this and then no one showing up.

I’ve been watching the three videos I have on the bus to and from work. This is very compelling work. I highly recommend you try and find a copy of this video. I was able to check it out of the Cincinnati library for my screening tonight. I’m just overpowered by how much I didn’t know. I see pieces of my childhood foreshadowed in some of these speeches that were given. Hearing them in this context sickens me. More than a few times I’ve almost been moved to tears.

Only tangentially related, I had a flash-back this morning. When I lived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana my parents got me accepted into a “Gifted and Talented” program. This was during the height of the desegregation of Baton Rouge’s schools. What they were doing was busing white kids from the suburbs into black schools and vice versa in order to maintain a balanced ratio of kids. So, my elementary school was a “desegregated” school. I rode the bus about an hour to an hour and a half each way to a school in downtown-ish Baton Rouge. All of the kids in my class were part of the G/T program. We had one wing of the school that was all G/T. The rest of the school was “normal”. So, our wing was white and the rest of the school was black; very “desegregated”.

Our class size was purposefully kept small and each teacher had an aide. Here’s where my flash-back comes in. My first G/T teacher was Mrs. Tossan (I have no idea how to spell it). Her aide was Mrs. Domino. Mrs. Domino (like all the teacher’s aides) was black. That’s really the only tie between this flash-back and this blog post. I remember we were making something at school that required us to bring in some sugar. Almost everyone brought in Domino brand sugar. As kids, the discovery of our teacher’s aide’s name on a box of sugar was a big deal. I haven’t seen a box of Domino sugar in a long time. Last night Carla bought me some “Brownulated Light Brown Sugar” with low carbs and low calories for my oat meal I eat at work. When I pulled it out of my lunch bag I saw it was Domino brand sugar.

And there you are; full circle. My wife bought me some Domino sugar for the first time in years and years that reminded me of my third grade teacher’s aide, Mrs. Domino, who was black on a day that I’m hosting the screening of a documentary of the Civil Rights Movement.

@Lathi.net: "Eyes on the Prize" plus a bonus "Flash-Back" from my childhood

"Eyes on the Prize" plus a bonus "Flash-Back" from my childhood