Comments on: WALLACE TERRY / “The State Of Vietnam” http://www.kalamu.com/bol/2009/02/16/wallace-terry-%e2%80%9cthe-state-of-vietnam%e2%80%9d/ a conversation about black music Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:17:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Marian http://www.kalamu.com/bol/2009/02/16/wallace-terry-%e2%80%9cthe-state-of-vietnam%e2%80%9d/#comment-117800 Marian Sun, 22 Feb 2009 17:22:09 +0000 http://www.kalamu.com/bol/2009/02/16/wallace-terry-%e2%80%9cthe-state-of-vietnam%e2%80%9d/#comment-117800 I read "Generation Kill" by Evan Wright a few months back. I thought at the time that the soldiers in that book were amazing frank because they were Marines, but I hear much of the same complaints in this mix. Some things never change. I read “Generation Kill” by Evan Wright a few months back. I thought at the time that the soldiers in that book were amazing frank because they were Marines, but I hear much of the same complaints in this mix. Some things never change.

]]> By: greg http://www.kalamu.com/bol/2009/02/16/wallace-terry-%e2%80%9cthe-state-of-vietnam%e2%80%9d/#comment-117149 greg Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:48:39 +0000 http://www.kalamu.com/bol/2009/02/16/wallace-terry-%e2%80%9cthe-state-of-vietnam%e2%80%9d/#comment-117149 That's my handy work thanks for the hook up sir much appreciated ;) That’s my handy work thanks for the hook up sir much appreciated ;)

]]> By: Kiini Ibura http://www.kalamu.com/bol/2009/02/16/wallace-terry-%e2%80%9cthe-state-of-vietnam%e2%80%9d/#comment-116907 Kiini Ibura Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:18:50 +0000 http://www.kalamu.com/bol/2009/02/16/wallace-terry-%e2%80%9cthe-state-of-vietnam%e2%80%9d/#comment-116907 The arc of what black people have experienced in America is mindblowingly INCREDIBLE. It is--as these men know, and as so many of us continue to know--almost impossible to bear... except that it is bearable because it must be because we are still here, still breathing. I was working on a project about both Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth and it struck me--when reviewing both women's lives--how comfortable we are with slave narratives here in the U.S. These women met dignitaries, wrote books, were major catalysts for political change and public perception. They were major figures to the United States of America. Sojourner Truth met Presidents Lincoln and Grant. Harriet Tubman was invited to England by Queen Elizabeth. They had close comradeships with white people who were committed to the same change as them. They lived in dynamic communities where they used their voices, their wit, their charisma, and strength for change. And once slavery was over, they fought for the right of Freedmen--organizing homes, schools, clothing, food for the recently freed enslaved. These women lived multifaceted lives, were superstars in part because of their resistance to slavery but also because they were just friggen amazing people. (Forgot to mention that Harriet Tubman was also a nurse, spy, scout, and soldier during the Civil War. They didn't pay her in full b/c she was a woman, but she was the only woman of any race to have led a siege for the U.S. Army.) This reminds me of the insistence of the boxes constantly being built around us--black people. Reminds me of the inflexibility and the unwillingness around us to let us just be people. Can you imagine being one of those soldiers? Well, you were a soldier and you were alive during that time, but that's just rhetorical. ... just imagine ... The arc of what black people have experienced in America is mindblowingly INCREDIBLE. It is–as these men know, and as so many of us continue to know–almost impossible to bear… except that it is bearable because it must be because we are still here, still breathing.

I was working on a project about both Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth and it struck me–when reviewing both women’s lives–how comfortable we are with slave narratives here in the U.S. These women met dignitaries, wrote books, were major catalysts for political change and public perception. They were major figures to the United States of America. Sojourner Truth met Presidents Lincoln and Grant. Harriet Tubman was invited to England by Queen Elizabeth.

They had close comradeships with white people who were committed to the same change as them. They lived in dynamic communities where they used their voices, their wit, their charisma, and strength for change.

And once slavery was over, they fought for the right of Freedmen–organizing homes, schools, clothing, food for the recently freed enslaved.

These women lived multifaceted lives, were superstars in part because of their resistance to slavery but also because they were just friggen amazing people. (Forgot to mention that Harriet Tubman was also a nurse, spy, scout, and soldier during the Civil War. They didn’t pay her in full b/c she was a woman, but she was the only woman of any race to have led a siege for the U.S. Army.)

This reminds me of the insistence of the boxes constantly being built around us–black people. Reminds me of the inflexibility and the unwillingness around us to let us just be people. Can you imagine being one of those soldiers? Well, you were a soldier and you were alive during that time, but that’s just rhetorical. … just imagine …

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