TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: Facing tragedy as part of maturity

Can tragedy help us grow to maturity?

The Canopy Roads Theater Company is presenting a staged version of Harper Lee's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD at Tallahassee's Goodwood Museum on November 10^th, 11^th and 12^th, 2015 at 7:00 PM.   MOCKINGBIRD tells the story of Jean-Louise “Scout” Finch, a spunky and tomboyish ten year old girl who witnesses the ugliness of racism in her small Alabama town, circa 1935.  Atticus Finch - her father - unsuccessfully defends a Black man falsely accused of raping a White woman.   By the story's end, Scout learns that ignorance is usually the basis of fear and that tradition and selfishness often negate freedom, justice and truth. But she also learns the power of love and empathy.

I play Reverend Sykes in this production; in addition, I once played a gender-reversed version of Scout in a freshman acting class at the High School of the Performing Arts, my alma mater. The irony of the latter should be obvious: I am Black, having been born and reared in New York City. My two parent family was solidly middle class and “Jim Crow” was not a factor in my childhood (although his cousin, “Sir James Crowe, esquire” certainly was). Still, tragedy factored into my upbringing.

One of my earliest memories was of an accident that occurred in Jamaica, N.Y., when I was four or five years old. A speeding car crossed the line and crashed head-on into a mid-sized box truck. My uncle hoisted me onto his shoulders above the spectators, to peer inside the car.  I distinctly remember that the crowd and the uninjured truck driver were all Black, while the dead auto driver and her two or three deceased young children were White. I remember their contorted bodies, which were smashed and splattered against what was left of the car's dashboard and windshield.

Despite my mother's overprotective nature, I still dealt with many other tragedies. One of my childhood friends died of an internal infection. When I was in the second grade, one of my classmates was killed while playing on the tracks of the Long Island Railroad. In 1973, a neighborhood boy named Clifford Glover – age ten - was shot in the back by N.Y.P.D. police officer Thomas Shea. Shea was eventually acquitted via the standard Thin Blue Line excuse - “The kid had a gun!” - even though no gun was ever produced. Later still, my teenage cousin was murdered by her boyfriend; likewise, I have known and buried too many other young people who died young, usually from murder or drugs or disease. I consider all of these events to be an integral part of my childhood.

In this adaptation of MOCKINGBIRD, Rev. Sykes tells Scout's brother to “Take Miss Jean Louise home now...These things aint fit for her to hear!” in response to the lurid testimony of an avowed racist. Scout does not leave. In this way, Harper Lee reminds us that Life cannot be ignored; that any genteel civility that covers evil must be scrutinized and stripped away. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD serves as the mirror that we must face, if we are to continue to live and grow and thrive.

MOCKINGBIRD will be presented at the Goodwood's Museum's Carriage House on November 10^th, 11^th and 12^th at 7:00 PM. For ticket information please go to: www.goodwoodmuseum.org or call (850) 877-4202.

Go to Mars...or at least the Moon!

     It's been a while since I have written an entry to this blog. 

     My story is the same:  New technologies in my day job, new opportunities in my part time gigs, new deadlines in my supposed vocation ("Thomas, the deadline is Friday.  The editor needs your MSS!") and old, repeat reminders that I need to upgrade ("Dad, when you are going to replace your flip phone?").  So the mental musings of this minor player in a minor Southern Capital, a minor cog in what may prove to be a minor machine in a minor corner of the Universe isn't too much of a priority.  My vanity (or lack thereof) doesn't address that.

    But today I had to write.

     Last night at 7 PM, under a clear, warm Florida sky, I saw the full moon.  Slightly above and to its left was (I think) Mars.  Years ago, when I wanted to be an astronaut, I dreamed (dreamt?) of the day I would walk on their surfaces.  According to the most conservative Science Fiction Classics, we were to be on Mars by now.  So much for secular prophecy.

     Still...there has to be a lesson in this.  Perhaps by reaching for the outer planets or the stars, we will reach our closest neighbor.  We already have.  Perhaps by having B.H.A.G.s - Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals - we will reach some of the easier targets.  Perhaps the act of simply reaching, working and striving will put us in a better place than at the beginning.

     Yesterday I drove to and from work.  Today I am biking.  The beautiful nightscape that becons me will - at least for now - be the backdrop of the fitness program I have been neglecting over the last few weeks.

     Weather permitting, look at the Moon tonight and let it inspire you!

     Always B Positive!

My Visits to the Taj Mahal

Last week I visited the Taj Mahal.  Twice.

No, I didn't travel to India (although I do have a standing invitation from an evangelist, a licensed MD who also preaches.  I haven't seen him face to face in years).

No, my two visits to the Taj Mahal were in the form of political controversy and a video.  The former is the new courthouse for the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee, nicknamed the Taj Mahal in the local media.  Huge, stately and ostentatious, it looms over US 319 in a new development in the Southeast park of town.  At a cost of nearly $50 million, it is filled with apartments for each of the justices, wood paneling from Africa and a host of other amenities. In a time when tens of thousands have lost their jobs, and when Florida is the Capital of Foreclosure (not to also mention lightning, botched elections, child murders and Right to Life / Death cases), this is simply an embarrassment.  No one wants to take full responsibility for the Tallahassee Taj Mahal.

I saw the second - and more pleasant - Taj Mahal on a PBS video, THE STORY OF INDIA.  The multi-disc documentary traces the development of  India from Prehistory to now (although the term "Prehistory" is an insult to a country that was there from the beginning; perhaps the West should use the term "Post-history" to refer to itself!).  The Taj Mahal is in fact a Mausoleum, built by the Emperor Shah Jahan in tribute to his wife, Mumtaz Mahal.  It is unparalleled in its beauty.  In marked contrast to the Tallahassee debacle, the original Taj Mahal has been vigorously claimed by both Hindi and Muslim historians. 

After my "visits" to these landmarks, I have two simple questions (directed at us all):

First (as per Florida's T.M), is there anything excessive and wasteful that you need to get out of your life?

and

Second, when you leave this Earth (and if money, land and resources were not an issue), would anyone be willing to dedicate a monument to you?

Always B Positive!