Jack’s Winning Words 2/13/18
“The Lone Ranger was inspired by an African-American U.S. Marshal who rode a silver horse and had a Native-American sidekick."  (Carter Woodson)  Did you know that fact about Kemosabe?  And did you know that February is Black History Month?  …and that the first A.-A. female pilot was Bessie Coleman?  BTW, a girl with me in 6th grade was named after her.  …and can you believe it, that interracial marriage wasn’t legal in all states until 1967?    :-)  Jack

FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  That is very interesting Jack . How did I know all of those facts? Shirley Briere and I had discussed Bessie Coleman and wondered what had happened to her. That was after Shirley moved to Florida.====JACK:  You knew about the origin of the Lone Ranger?  I've tried to trace Bessie Mae through her father, the Rev W.T. Coleman, of the Bethel  AME Church.  No luck.

FROM ROBERT:  Thanks for sharing with so many this important fact most AA children of my day were told.  This makes me wonder whether my children know or remember these facts? So I'll remind them with your WW's====JACK:  There comes a time when you become the older generation, responsible for passing down stories from the past.  I'm grateful for Black History Month when I can learn a portion of American History that I did not hear about.

FROM EDUCATOR PAUL:  Inspiring... what will people write years from now with the tag line, "Can you believe...?"====JACK: "Can you believe...that people drove their own cars?  ...that everybody didn't have equal opportunity for health care?  ...that the political mess is worse today that it was back in 2018?"

FROM HAPPY TRAILS IN NOVA SCOTIA:  Born a Crime, by biracial late-night host Trevor Noah, is excellent reading if you haven't already checked it out.====JACK:  Does an American marrying a German count as a mixed-marriage?====HT:  I'm sure some would have considered it so at that time.

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  african-american, native american... do you identify as swedish-american?
i use this:  german-norwegian-dog-eatin’ sioux-american   don’t perpetuate racism. we’re all americans!====JACK:  Like it, or not, we live in a world ways of identification need to be followed - to get Social Security coverage, to get a passport, to be able to vote, to get a driver's license, to get access to credit, etc.  The newest i.d. will be facial recognition.  BTW, I am of German-Swedish background.===LIZ:  you see my point... unless you are a minority, you are a regular old american. sounds racist to me.  but no ID to vote... curious, indeed.====JACK:  I.D. to vote often depends on what part of the country you're in, and...then...what color your skin is.

FROM TARMART REV:  Opened up the way to marry my “Italian-American” sweetheart for some 47 years now. Truly a blessed “Heinz’s 57” variety white boy, I am!! 0;-)====JACK:  Who was most apprehensive about this "mixed" marriage...her family, or yours, or neither?====REV:  The twelve siblings were probably the first to marry outside the Italian heritage. I’m assuming this as both the parents were born in Italy. Three of the sister married AG pastors.====JACK:  Perhaps the most traumatic for "the family" was when the Italian Catholics first strayed into the AG religion.

FROM GOOD SAM LEE:  Interesting,  we have come a long ways but then again we haven't? ====JACK:  To see how far we've come, look at the makeup of your congregation.

FROM BB IN CHGO:  Is this the famed “Besame Coleman”?  Herb and Nancy always laughed about it when they’d request “Besseme mucho” from a mariachi band at a Mexican restaurant.====JACK: That's a vestige from our racist days, growing up in Moline.  Nancy's tease, was "Perky," Bob Perkins was an A.'A. in Nancy's grade.

FROM GOPHER LYNN:  Good message today, as usual ====JACK:  David is my editor, to keep me from writing something stupid.  Frank Sinatra once had a hit song..."Saying Something Stupid."

FROM ST PAUL IN MESA:  our heritage of racism takes a very long time to totally eradicate!   this past October we spent 8 days traveling across Georgia,  Mississippi,  Alabama, and a part of Tenn. visiting many of the major sites of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s  while also meeting personally with many of  the "foot soldiers" who literally put their lives on the line advocating for change and progress.  some of their stories had us almost in tears.  amazing stories of suffering,  fear, hate, and also courage and hope.  not one of the speakers was bitter or vindictive tho they had every right be that way.====JACK:  I'm not proud of my racist roots, but it is what it was..and, hopefully, I've made some progress.

FROM PEPPERMINT MARY:  Isn't it a shame that it couldn't have been portrayed in the color of the story. I wonder if the character in, was it Blazing Saddles, played by, was it Cleavon Little, is based on this story. Lots of questions and speculation... Just pondering! Sometimes I make my brain hurt. ====JACK:  I remember the Lone Ranger first on radio.  Black or white, you had to use your imagination.  When he appeared in the movies and on TV, it was at a time when a black ranger would probably have been unacceptable.  That was before the "marches."  Everything has its time....even though the idea of that may cause brain pain.

FROM AW:  Just a reminder that I continue to enjoy your Winning Words. I especially enjoyed today's history lesson, probably more because my late mother was named Bessie.  Thanks for continuing to share Winning Words.====JACK:  If your mom was born after the mid-20s to early 30s, she was probably named for that female pilot.

FROM HONEST JOHN:  When Richmond fell to union troops, Grant and a black regiment march in as part of the conquering force.====JACK:  I waited all day to hear from my Civil War experts to verify what you wrote.  One of them sent this account:  "On April 3, 1865, the Rebel capital of Richmond, Virginia, falls to the Union, the most significant sign that the Confederacy is nearing its final days.  For ten months, General Ulysses S. Grant had tried unsuccessfully to infiltrate the city. After Lee made a desperate attack against Fort Stedman along the Union line on March 25, Grant prepared for a major offensive. He struck at Five Forks on April 1, crushing the end of Lee’s line southwest of Petersburg. On April 2, the Yankees struck all along the Petersburg line, and the Confederates collapsed.  On the evening of April 2, the Confederate government fled the city with the army right behind. Now, on the morning of April 3, blue-coated troops entered the capital. Richmond was the holy grail of the Union war effort, the object of four years of campaigning. Tens of thousands of Yankee lives were lost trying to get it, and nearly as many Confederate lives lost trying to defend it.  Now, the Yankees came to take possession of their prize. One resident, Mary Fontaine, wrote, “I saw them unfurl a tiny flag, and I sank on my knees, and the bitter, bitter tears came in a torrent.” Another observer wrote that as the Federals rode in, the city’s black residents were “completely crazed, they danced and shouted, men hugged each other, and women kissed.” Among the first forces into the capital were black troopers from the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry, and the next day President Abraham Lincoln visited the city. For the residents of Richmond, these were symbols of a world turned upside down. It was, one reporter noted, “…too awful to remember, if it were possible to be erased, but that cannot be.”====DAZ:  I think that’s all substantially true. Not sure about the 5 th Mass but the story goes that a union general specifically picked a black regiment for the entry into Richmond.

FROM DR J IN OHIO:  good fact!====JACK:  Will Rogers said: "All I know is what I read in the papers."  Today, "facts" come from the internet.