Nikki Giovanni At The Fitzgerald Theater, along with MPR host, Kerri Miller, St. Paul, Minnesota, January 2009, photo © 2009 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
It’s the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln and celebrations are going on all over the country. We watched a couple of PBS programs last night on Lincoln’s youth in Indiana and Illinois. The tall man with the high-water pants lost his mother from “milk sickness” at the early age of 34. I was struck by how much he looked like Nancy Hanks Lincoln. He helped carve the pegs for her coffin.
Lincoln loved and understood the importance of words and there have been no shortage of books written about him. I listened to an NPR program on the way home from work this week: Three Books Explore Lincoln’s Complex Genius by Eric Foner. In his reviews of David Herbert Donald’s Lincoln, James Oakes’ The Radical and the Republican, and Richard Carwardine’s Lincoln, Foner dives into Lincoln’s relationship to power and passivity, and his complex friendship with black abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
In a couple of lines, Foner, author of Our Lincoln: New Perspectives on Lincoln and His World, sums up why Abraham Lincoln is still one of the most important figures of our modern times:
Every generation of Americans reinvents Abraham Lincoln in its own image. Politicians from conservatives to communists, civil rights activists to segregationists, have claimed him as their own. Lincoln is important to us not because of how he chose his cabinet or what route his train took to Washington, but because the issues of his time still resonate in ours — relations between the state and federal governments, the definition of American citizenship, the long-term legacy of slavery.
Lincoln was also a key player in the execution of thirty-eight Dakota Sioux on December 26, 1862, in Mankato, Minnesota. The hangings followed trials which condemned over 300 participants in the 1862 Dakota Conflict, the largest mass execution in U.S. history. The complexity and controversy of the decisions he made while president are a testament to his own internal battles and the time in which he lived.
In Birchbark Books last weekend, I picked up Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team Of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. She won the Pulitzer Prize in history for No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. And one of the most fascinating sites I found is The Abraham Lincoln Bookshop with historic and rare authographs and photographs of Lincoln.
The site also offers a whole section on Women’s History, from the women’s point of view. There I found Catherine Clinton’s, Mrs. Lincoln: A Life, a chronicle of Mary Todd Lincoln:
Born into an aristocratic Kentucky family, she was an educated, well-connected Southern daughter, and when she married a Springfield lawyer she became a Northern wife—an experience mirrored by thousands of her countrywomen.
The Lincolns endured many personal setbacks—including the death of a child and defeats in two U.S. Senate races—along the road to the White House. Mrs. Lincoln herself suffered scorching press attacks, but remained faithful to the Union and her wartime husband. She was also the first presidential wife known as the “First Lady.”
I think the women in Lincoln’s life are as compelling as the man. Catherine Clinton will have a virtual book signing on Valentine’s Day if you’d like to join in.
Bicycles: Love Poems, on stage at the Fitzgerald Theater, St. Paul, Minnesota, January 2009, photo © 2009 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
After all this, the event closest to my heart is a Birthday Tribute and Wreath-Laying Ceremony on February 12th, 8am EST at the Lincoln Memorial. President Barack Obama has been invited to commemorate the 16th president at the Memorial erected following Lincoln’s Centennial. He invited poet and author Nikki Giovanni to recite her new work, written especially for the Bicentennial.
When Teri, Liz, and I went to see Nikki read at the Fitzgerald last month, she hinted at the contents of her poem, something I don’t want to miss. Teri sent the following email out to our Poetry Group a few days later:
Poetry Hounds,
Following closely on Elizabeth Alexander’s reading at Obama’s Inauguration, another poet is being called upon to read her work.
February 12th, 2009 is the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln. At the Lincoln Memorial on 2-12, there will be a special wreath-laying ceremony with a program that includes poet Nikki Giovanni. It will be at 7:00 a.m. (Minnesota time). I’ve included a link; I presume it will be broadcast widely.
Last week, QM, Liz, & I heard Nikki Giovanni live at the Fitzgerald in St. Paul. She blew us out of the water. She’s 65, was active in the Civil Rights Movement, teaches at Virginia Tech (where the massacre occurred in 2007), and was like seeing a touch of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks rolled into one.
Keep poetry alive, man.
Love, Teri
I’m going to try to get my Night Owl self up early! Happy 200th Birthday, Abe. Your life and legacy are alive and well in the year 2009. And when we attend our Poetry Group tonight, we will all be celebrating the poets and poetry honoring the day you were born.
-posted on red Ravine on Abraham Lincoln’s 200th Birthday, February 12th, 2009
Hey QM, did you get yourself up in time to see Nikki Giovanni read her poem? I didn’t see this until now, quickly did a calculation in my head and realized I’d missed it by about 2-1/2 hours. Hopefully I can catch it on You Tube or whatever network website it was broadcast on. (I did a quick google search but did not find it out there yet; if anyone else does, please let me know.)
Really interesting link to the biography of Lincoln’s mother and father and step-mother, QM. Both his mother and step-mother seemed such strong women, such encouraging mothers. Lincoln did not attend the funeral of his father, but he continued to visit his step-mother after his father’s death.
I look forward to exploring more of the links and reading up more on Lincoln, especially his wife. I gave the Team of Rivals book to my father-in-law for Christmas. It looked intimidating in its depth of history—something that is always hard for me to read. But I think it was perfect for Jim’s dad.
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Thanks for the great post on Lincoln and Nikki Giovanni. The pictures from the Fitzgerald are sensational! I’ve been enjoying historians on public radio all morning talk about Lincoln’s impact on our country.
I am stumped about this morning’s wreath-laying ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial. I’ve search every possible site online, and can’t find any that aren’t busy. I’m dying to hear Nikki’s poem.
When we saw her at the Fitz, she said she was going to talk (in the poem) about Illinois politicians, past and present. Blagojevich was still governor, and she told us she would address his situation without using his name. Now that he’s out of office, I wonder if she changed her plan.
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I had never seen a drawing of Lincoln’s real mother, only the photo of his bonneted stepmother. You’re right, QM, Lincoln looks just like his mom.
People, like Lincoln, who have survived great personal failure capture my attention. He climbed up from nothing and had to persist through tremendous difficulty. Isn’t that so much more interesting/motivating/real than a silver-spoon leader?
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Sinclair, I first saw that drawing last night when we were watching a couple of PBS documentaries that Liz had taped about Lincoln. They did a close up of Mary Hanks Lincoln’s face and told the sad story of how she died from the milk sickness while trying to help out a neighbor who also had it. I suppose we should be thankful these days for the pasteurization of milk!
The way they described his mother, I could see that he might have taken on some of her characteristics and carried them with him through the rest of his life. She seemed like a giving person. I agree about Lincoln having climbed up from next to nothing. In one of the documentaries, they were talking about how the way he didn’t feel like he fit in caused him to travel and to be a seeker of something more in his life. He was driven. And actually was a very honest person.
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BTW, I wanted to mention, for those who haven’t gone to the link, milk sickness is a disease contracted by drinking milk from cows which have grazed on poisonous white snakeroot.
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ybonesy, did Jim’s dad finish the book Team of Rivals? I wondered if he liked it. I like that link, too, the biography of his family. It makes him seem more human, not as larger than life the way many depict him. His history seems very complicated by all that was going on around him at the time.
I’m also very interested in Mary Todd Lincoln. I wouldn’t mind reading a book about her as well. She’s gotten a bad rap in the history books. One of the historians was talking about how everyone wants her to be different or have been more understanding or empathetic..but she wasn’t able to be different. She had to overcome mental strife and things that we might treat with Mental Health drugs in this day and age.
I too think that Lincoln’s mothers seemed like strong women. And he married one as well. Maybe a strained relationship with his father. I have to read more though. I just started digging into the details of his history. Everyone has an opinion though, that’s for sure. All of the different scholars.
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Teri, thanks about the photos. I got a couple of good ones. And Liz got some even better ones. Her camera can focus a little closer up. I really enjoyed looking at them and remembering how energized I felt after we heard Nikki Giovanni read at the Fitzgerald in January. She was so positive and uplifting.
Oh, yb and Teri, we got up really early to watch the wreath-laying ceremony and there was absolutely NOTHING about it in the mainstream media. I was so disappointed. I looked on C-SPAN, all kinds of cable channels. Couldn’t believe they didn’t cover it. I mean Obama was speaking, too, and several musicians. You would have thought it would have been covered in the mainstream.
I looked online then and all the websites that I easily got to last night with one click were completely jammed up, on overload. Teri and yb, if either of you see the poem anywhere, yes, please fill us in! I was intrigued after hearing Nikki let the cat out of the bag at the Fitzgerald that night. I thought, what an honor to be asked to read a poem at Lincoln’s wreath-laying. She said it was a much better fit for her than, say, being asked to write the inauguration poem the way Elizabeth Alexander was asked to do (which was a great fit for her). I really loved hearing Nikki Giovanni speak. I had only heard her on taped speeches until this January. She’s very honest, too, a lot like Abe. 8)
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I am beginning to grow suspicious that the event at the Lincoln Memorial was cancelled. I have been listening to the radio nearly all morning (all Lincoln/Obama stuff), and not a word of reference to an early-morning wreath-laying ceremony. Surely there would have been at least one comment, don’t you think?
I just finished listening to NPR’s coverage of the event at the Capitol (Obama spoke), and I was waiting, waiting, waiting for them to say: “And now we call upon the acclaimed poet Nikki Giovanni.” I thought maybe if they cancelled the wreath-laying, they’d slide her into the other program. I had my 80’s tape-recorder right next to my radio ready to tape the poem. Nada.
Don’t they know we’ve been waiting for weeks and weeks for Nikki to talk about the four Illinois politicians she mentioned (Lincoln, Grant, Obama, & Blagojevich)?
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Hmmm. How sad that would be. Especially since it was in all these schedules across the Internet for the Lincoln Bicentennial celebrations. And the fact that she announced it when she spoke to us in January. I haven’t even been able to access the Lincoln200 link I put in this piece since about 2am last night. Teri, have you been able to access it? I think it’s the same one you put in your note to our Poetry Group. That’s so strange. Do you know if the singer who was listed to perform after Giovanni was able to perform?
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The only music I heard was a military chorus–the Army Corp Choir (or something like that). I have not been able to get into the Lincoln200 link, either.
Remember at the Fitz when Nikki said she wasn’t going to let anyone see (or approve) her poem before she read it this morning? It only added to my anticipation.
I’m going to keep checking her website to see if anything pops up.
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Our local news station reported on the wreath laying ceremony last evening & again today at noon, though I was busy, I did hear bits & pieces. I’ll be more careful to watch for it again at 6. Perhaps the nightly news will have more information.
QM, I haven’t quite read all of the links, but am looking forward to them. Good post, with lots to learn. Thanks! D
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Yep, I remember. She refused to be censored in any way. She has integrity in her writing. Maybe we should contact Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office and find out what the scoop is. After all, she did watch the Super Bowl with Obama. You know, 6 degrees of separation. 8)
The singer that was going to play was a Grammy winner, kind of Sinatra-like. Not music I usually listen to so I can’t recall his name from looking at the schedule last night. He’s pretty big in certain circles though. It might come to me later. Hope he’s not reading this. 8)
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Oh, diddy, that’s good to hear that you heard it on the local news. Thanks. Yeah, if you hear anything else, let us know! Hey, BTW, I sure don’t expect people to read all the links. They are just there for those who are interested. I enjoy the research and learning about different subjects. I’m hoping it will serve me well as I keep researching my own writing work. 8) It’s amazing how much one can learn, with only a few clicks in the right places.
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I just read a clip from the Washington Post that the wreath-laying “ceremony took place under bright but turbulent skies.” They specifically mentioned that there was a poem by Nikki. But where is it? Where, oh where, Nikki?
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Oh QM…thank you! thank you!
I LOVE this post. Lincoln has been my hero since the second grade. The details are wonderful!
I’ve been to the Ford Theater and stood in the Petersen House until they kicked me out. I couldn’t get my mind off that sitting room where Mary must have paced while her husband lay dying in the next room and my stomach was churning the entire time.
I’ve been through the driving tour on CD at Gettysburg (yes, they have a follow along for dorks like me) and saw the re-in-actment in my head at each marker. But the most moving site was the chair that Lincoln sat in on that last night. It still carries the stain of his blood. It’s at the Ford Museum in Dearborne, Michigan. I break down every time I see it.
Lincoln was a wonderful writer. He would have love this.
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heather, thanks for the kind words. Don’t you just wonder if Lincoln was walking among us yesterday, celebrating along with us? I’m glad you took the Gettysburg tour. You can’t help but think of Lincoln when you are there. I think you can even tour the place Lincoln stayed the night before he gave the Gettysburg Address.
My favorite links in this piece are the ones that both yb and Sinclair mentioned about the details of his mother, and his growing up years. Also the photographs link at the Abraham Lincoln Bookshop. There are quite a few rare photographs, documents, and autographs of Lincoln there.
The 3rd link I like is one of the links to the Dakota War of 1862 or the Dakota Conflict. Especially the website (that I think is run by a lawyer) with the history of many of this nation’s famous trials. It’s got a scan of the document Lincoln signed to authorize the hangings in Mankato, MN. It gives me chills to look at it.
Lincoln wasn’t perfect. But he was an amazing man. I heard on NPR yesterday, a scholar talk about the Dakota War of 1862 hangings in Minnesota. He said that Lincoln actually made a mistake and hung a few of the wrong men. He mentioned something about the name Chaska. I need to go back and listen to it more carefully.
It’s good to know all sides of a person, particularly famous people like Lincoln, so that we get the complete picture. Nothing was set in black and white. And imagine Mary Todd Lincoln’s dilemma, coming from the South at that time, yet aligning with her husband on the Civil War. Of course, many Northerners supported slavery as well. It just wasn’t that cut and dry.
Heather, what’s your take on Mary Todd Lincoln? I wondered if you had read as much about her as you have Abe. If you make it back to this post, I’d love to know more what you think about her.
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Oh, I wanted to come back and mention, at Poetry Group last night, we were still trying to find out where we could hear or read Nikki Giovanni’s poem that she read at the Lincoln Memorial yesterday. She did read it! Liz found a Twitter entry from a person who was there and mentioned that Giovanni did mention the politicians in question. We shall keep looking for the actual poem over the weekend. I’m still curious about what she wrote and how it was received. And why it hasn’t been published anywhere (?). Perhaps it has come out by now, though. I haven’t checked since last night. We’ll keep you posted.
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http://nikki-giovanni.com/americanvision.shtml
This is the link to the poem that Nikki Giovanni read at the Lincoln Memorial on 02/12/2009. Finding it gave me something to do this afternoon.
Hope you all enjoy it.
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http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/tours/gettytour.htm
QM, Heather, try the above link if you want more info on the David Wills house where Lincoln stayed & wrote the Gettysburg address. There are some great links on Google.
I believe the house was renovated & reopened to the public yesterday.
This will be a great place to take Brant this summer! I don’t think he’s ever been there. Gettysburg is about a 45 minute drive from here & I haven’t been there in years.
Oh, and one more thing. When Brant was here last Sunday he told us that his Daddy’s friend B. joined the Marines & was going to fight in the Civil War. We explained the whole war thing to him & he was pretty interested. D
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Oh, wonderful, Bob. Nikki Giovanni finally posted it on her website (which is a great site BTW). I’ll add the link again here:
The American Vision of Abraham Lincoln (LINK)
AT THIS MOMENT by Nikki Giovanni
Lincoln Bicentennial at the Lincoln Memorial
12 February 2009
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diddy, thank you for adding that link to the David Wills House. I had run into it when I was researching this post but then forgot where I had seen it. I also ran into a postcard collection on one of these links and the David Wills House was among the images there.
I’d love to go back to Gettysburg sometime. And I don’t remember if we saw this house when we toured Gettysburg in the mid-1960’s either. I do, however, remember standing on the spot where Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address. It would be fun to go with Brant. I wonder if some of the other kids would want to go as well. I anticipate some other on-foot Pennsylvania research when I get to that part of the writing. One is to visit the area where my maternal great grandfather grew up near Coatesville, PA.
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Bob,
Nice work finding the poem! I’ve read it twice. Nikki doesn’t mess around.
I was interested to see what she added from when we saw her at the Fitzgerald (the reference to Caroline Kennedy), and that she didn’t include anything about General Grant.
My eyes popped open when I read it. I admire her courage. I may not agree with everything she says, but I am in deep awe of her backbone.
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QuoinMonkey,
I read the execution order Lincoln signed. I wonder if he knew everything (that we now know) about the Dakota Conflict, or if he just heard there was a raid on New Ulm, Minnesota. He obviously didn’t leave Washington to investigate.
I suspect he *did* know, and was picking his battles. Did he lay awake that night? They’ve said on NPR this week that he many times paced the White House floors knowing he was sending boys/men to their death.
In went to see the new Renee Zellweger film today: “New In Town.” It’s set, coincidentally, in New Ulm, Minnesota.
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Teri, what was New In Town about? Would you recommend it? I read a little more about the Dakota Conflict, too, and it’s so complicated. There was so much suffering involved: 400 to 800 settlers killed, the remaining Sioux who were not hanged were jailed for a long period of time, along with over 1000 others; many of them, I think I read 1/3, died while incarcerated. And the Dakota War led, eventually, to Wounded Knee. It’s not a proud time in Minnesota history. But it’s similar to the plight of many Native communities during the time the western part of this country was settled. A lot of suffering during those periods.
I read that Lincoln actually did try to read about each case and make careful decisions about what to do about the 300+ Native Americans that were going to be hanged after the Dakota Conflict. I imagine he did stay up nights. I watched two more documentaries on Lincoln last night. They are all coming from different perspectives. My thought is that he made a political decision and a conscious choice not to stay all of the executions. Sad though.
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New in Town is about a high-power exec (Renee Zellweger) transferred to New Ulm in the dead of winter. It’s super corny, and makes fun of Minnesotans in the spirit of the movie Fargo (deep accents with lots of the “r” sound, dopey outfits, lots of brown paneling). And yet, I recognized all the characters, the ice fishing, the cars hitting ice and going into ditches, etc. etc. It won’t win any awards, but it was an easy matinee worth a few laughs.
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Another sidenote about one of the documentaries we watched last night, it featured many Lincoln scholars, including Lerone Bennett, Jr. who does not believe that Lincoln freed the slaves. Great conversations from these scholars with different opinions about Lincoln’s accomplishments. Bennett wrote a book back in 2000 called Forced Into Glory: Abraham Lincoln’s White Dream and talked partly about Lincoln’s role in the Dakota War and how he also used the N word, common to that time period.
It reminds me of all of the authors we read where we have to go back and put them in the context of the time in which they lived. What were the norms then in language and life and how did they fit into their own time. Is it really fair to judge people by the standards we live by today? Or should we first research what it was like when an author or president or writer or poet lived, and judge them by what they were able to accomplish in their day. Something to ponder. I suspect the truth about Lincoln lies somewhere in the middle. And that’s it’s good that people raise the questions. Conversation.
A couple of links:
Bio of Lerone Bennett, Jr. at ChickenBones: A Journal — for Literary and Artistic African American Themes (LINK)
Book Review by Edward Steers, Jr. of Forced Into Glory: Abraham Lincoln’s White Dream By Lerone Bennett, Jr. (LINK) — one reviewer who, at least in the year 2000, did not agree with Bennett’s ideas about Lincoln.
The Dakota Conflict is also addressed in the Steers review (from his opinion) at Abraham Lincoln Online (LINK):
Lincoln objected to what he viewed as wholesale slaughter. He wired the commanding officer to stay the executions and forward the “full and complete record of each conviction.” He also ordered that any material which would discriminate the most guilty from the least guilty be included with the trial transcripts.
Lincoln then sat down with his Justice Department lawyers and reviewed every case. Lincoln was under tremendous pressure to approve the executions both to intimidate the Indians and to satisfy the white settlers’ thirst for revenge. Both the military leaders and the politicians in Minnesota warned Lincoln that anything less than large-scale hangings would result in outrage and more violence against the Indians. Lincoln held firm and pardoned 265 of the 303 condemned Indians, approving a total of 38 cases.
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Teri, I just had a chance to reread her poem from this week and sit with it a bit. The Caroline Kennedy reference was a different take than what I had read about. I wonder what really happened with that in New York? The poem is layered; I like the way she deals with the passage of time and the moment.
Giovanni has always taken risks in her work and she continues to do so in her Lincoln poem. She is not afraid to speak her own truth, and seems comfortable in her own skin. I think because of that, she is able to inspire others to want to do the same with their own work.
Did you check out the Timeline in her Bio (LINK)? She has accomplished so much. I was especially interested in the time period where she had the dialogue with James Baldwin [See Baldwin & Giovanni — On Truth & Love (LINK)].
In 1971, she traveled to London to tape special segments of Soul! with James Baldwin which aired on the 15th and 22nd of December. Then in 1973, when the dialogue was published in book form, she had just turned 30 and had all this going on:
All that in one year. (And to put it in perspective for myself, I would have been right out of high school.) She mentions that the transcript with Baldwin was edited. I wonder if it was filmed or archived somewhere in its complete form.
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Giovanni’s Lincoln poem contains the stanza:
When we are dismayed that the accidental
Governor of the Empire State can find
Just one more reason to rain pain
And rejection on a family that has offered only
Grace and graciousness
Nikki Giovanni can (and is expected) to of course express her opinion in her works, but I found this assertion terribly unfair. Caroline Kennedy’s foray into politics was akin to the bespectacled 90-pound bookworm trying to be immediately accepted as a Longshoreman. The principle fault in this debacle clearly lay with Kennedy, her well-meaning friends and advisors, and her not-so-well-meaning hangers-on and sundry politicians hoping to leverage their political capital. She was fairly rejected as unsuitable for the office she sought. Some fault lay with Patterson if he did indeed publicly criticize Kennedy, but we should remember Kennedy initiated the whole course of events.
Additionally, those not wont to historical revisionism and rosecoloredglassicism know the Kennedy clan to be capable political scrappers not constrained by grace and graciousness, and yet perfectly pleased to accept laurels so bestowed. This is no particular slam of the Kennedys; it’s been the case for those seeking public prominence throughout recorded human history.
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Rod,
I have to agree with you, the Kennedys have certainly not offered “only grace and graciousness.” Of course they’ve done good public service, but they’re hardly a pure lot. I recently read a biography of Joseph Kennedy; he was a self-obsessed climber if there ever was one.
I suppose Nikki had her reasons for turning a blind eye to the deceased Kennedys’ sorted dealings with the mafia and bootlegging (of which the current generation still profits). But I have to say, after reading the poem, “Seriously, Nikki? Are you kidding?”
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Rod, thanks for your thoughtful comment regarding the Kennedys. And Teri, for your response as well. I tend to align with the two of you in my thoughts about it.
You know what’s interesting is that I think I recall when we saw Nikki at the Fitzgerald, Teri, that she was/is a friend of the Kennedy family. Did you get that feeling? Remember the part of the discussion when she mentioned John Kennedy Jr. and Tupac Shakur? It makes me wonder if she is coming at it from the perspective of friend or protector. I appreciate the discussion.
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One more comment on this post, last night Liz and I went to see Ronald C. White, Jr. at the Bookcase of Wayzata (LINK) an independent bookstore right on Lake Minnetonka in Wayzata, Minnesota. He was there to discuss his new Lincoln book, A. Lincoln: A Biography. I heard him talking about it earlier in the morning on MPR. And it turns out so did Liz, Teri, and a bunch of other Minnesotans. Liz and I decided to be spontaneous and go hear him speak. It was excellent. And the place was packed!
He talked a lot about how Lincoln’s words were like poetry and how Lincoln loved words. He said he wrote the book for those who might be reading a Lincoln biography for the first time or to introduce Lincoln to a younger generation. He also talked about how Obama has started to shine a light on Lincoln and how he (Ronald White) is now getting speaking engagements in Mississippi and Alabama and also in Europe, where many think Abe Lincoln personifies the American Dream.
Here’s a link to Ronald C. White, Jr.’s website and to read a little more about the book. Looks like a winner! I hope to drop more thoughts on some things he said at his book signing as I have time to digest them. BTW, his is one of over 16,000 books written about Lincoln. Amazing.
A. Lincoln: A Biography by Ronald C. White, Jr. at his Official Website (LINK)
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QM,
I remember Nikki talking about Tupac at the Fitz, but not J.K., Jr. She was very, very protective of Tupac, hip-hop, and rap artists in general. I wondered that night how she justified their lyrics…Yes, I think she is very protective. I wouldn’t mind having her in my corner, now that I think about it.
I’m really glad you got to hear Ronald White live. Did you take any pictures? I’ve just begun his book, A. Lincoln, and I think it’s going to be a winner.
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Teri, can’t wait to hear more about A. Lincoln as you make your way through the book. It’s a thick one. Yes, I did take a few photographs right after the event during the book signing. I haven’t looked at them yet to see how they came out. There was a long, long line that formed to have Ron White sign their books. Always a pleasing sight for a writer to behold — people really wanting to read what you’ve spent sometimes years putting out there. How far along are you in the book?
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Another note about Nikki, last night we watched a segment of Nikki Giovanni on the PBS show, Bill Moyers Journal. Liz had taped it. It aired on February 13th, 2009.
It was totally inspiring. Whether you like her poetry or her politics, or not, if you get a chance, go to hear this woman speak. Nikki Giovanni is on fire. No matter what happens, she loves life and she does not care who knows it. She is also not afraid to feel whatever she feels: sad, happy, desire, love.
Every time I hear her speak, I’m inspired to want to go out and live my life to the fullest, every single day. She read again from her new book of poetry, Bicycles, a book of love poems that sprang from her own grief. She’s firm about one thing — the way to heal all wounds is through love — both the giving of love, and the receiving.
Here’s the link:
Nikki Giovanni Interview on PBS Bill Moyers Journal (LINK)
Bill Moyers sits down with renowned poet Nikki Giovanni, author of 27 books, a Grammy nominee and an Oprah Living Legend. Once dubbed the priestess of black poetry, her work has spanned the themes of love and sex, anger and grief, race, politics, and violence, and in this intimate conversation with Bill Moyers, Giovanni discusses her most recent book: BICYCLES.
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[…] Nikki Giovanni often mentioned her grandmother when we saw her at the Fitzgerald Theater in January. She had returned to Knoxville to honor her memory on April 29th, 2008 when Mayor Haslam unveiled of a historical marker honoring Giovanni and the old neighborhood where her grandmother lived. It is now Hall of Fame Drive across the street from the Cal Johnson Recreation Center. It was there she recited her poem, Tennessee By Birth. […]
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[…] see Craven’s euphoria about her visit with Stein much the way I feel when I go and hear Nikki Giovanni, Ann Patchett, Patricia Smith, Steve Almond, or Mary Oliver talk about their work and have a chance […]
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[…] Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln lived in the same town and Whitman saw Lincoln 22 or 23 times, they never met. Maybe it was a good […]
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[…] Scott Fitzgerald is a Twin Cities icon who continues to live on through art and author happenings at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. Most Minnesotans know that he penned the short story, […]
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[…] ♦ The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just. — Abraham Lincoln […]
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[…] on red Ravine, Sunday, February 12th, 2012, birthday of Abraham Lincoln. Related to posts: Abraham Lincoln & Nikki Giovanni (On Poets & Presidents), Presidential Poetics — Elizabeth Alexander, President Barack Obama […]
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I went to the new exhibit at the Minnesota History Center–the one about the Dakota War in 1862. I’ve read a lot about Lincoln’s involvement; I’ve been to the sites in Minnesota where everything happened. But today, I learned something about the mass execution I had never heard. When the 38 men were standing on the scaffold waiting to die, they joined hands and sang a song in Dakota. Can you imagine? Surely there were some amongst the 4,000 spectators who could see what was happening.
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Teri, the exhibit must be very powerful. It’s hard to imagine what it must have been like for the 38 men who were hanged. I didn’t know they joined hands and sang a song in Dakota. There had to have been many people watching who knew this was wrong and didn’t speak up. Did they feel powerless. Or afraid to find their voices. Really sad and unjust.
I’d like to see this exhibit. I notice on the website that there are oral histories from descendants (LINK). It would be fascinating to listen to them.
Exhibit development is one aspect of the “Truth Recovery Project,” a process through which exhibit staff members are meeting with descendants of those touched by the war. Meeting participants are taking an active role in shaping the exhibit by discussing the significance and interpretation of artifacts and primary sources from the Society’s collections.
Made possible by the Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008.
I am going to add a couple of links for those who wish to learn more about the exhibit and the history. Thanks for coming back to this piece and sharing your comment. I really appreciate it.
The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 (LINK) – exhibit hours at MN History Center
The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 (LINK) – Project website
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Quoin,
The exhibit was absolutely packed on Sunday. I was thrilled for the crowd, but I missed a lot. I will go back on a weekday to enjoy it fully.
The man who cut the rope (which caused the simultaneous death of the 38) had lost his entire family in the war. I’m sure he couldn’t wait to do the job.
Yes, there had to be white people who were afraid to speak up. Or even some who wanted to slow things down to make sure the Dakota got a fair trial. Of course, after the hanging, they realized two people on the scaffold had been acquitted.
I’m glad for the awareness about the U.S. – Dakota War. Everyone knows about the Civil War; most don’t even know this six-week battle happened.
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Teri, I don’t know why, but I’m surprised that it was so packed. Good for the citizens of Minnesota for embracing a hard chapter of their past. I, too, am glad for the awareness. It’s one of the ways to help change the future. Thanks again for sharing your experience there.
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Right now, in Mankato. Sitting at the site of the execution. The Blue Earth County Library sits where the scaffold did, the Minnesota River a stone’s throw away. Cars fly by, people going someplace for the 4th of July. I try to feel what happened here. Not easy. Mankato built up and busy around this place. 150 years is a long time ago.
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Teri, that is amazing. Love hearing the history. The library now stands where the scaffold did? A place of learning and knowledge. I am imagining you there by the Minnesota River. 150 years is a long time ago. I love that you are visiting that place again, paying tribute, keeping the past alive and pulling it into the future. Things change so quickly, everyone is so busy. I bet it feels good to slow down. The heat today is stifling. Keep cool and hydrated. It’s 95 in the Valley with a heat index well over 100. Thinking of you. Right this moment.
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I went to a few sites from the Dakota War today. It was blistering hot. I remember Natalie saying when she was in Minnesota she had to learn to “eat the cold.” I tried to eat the heat. It actually worked. It was a good way to spend the 4th of July. Remembering.
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Teri, it actually hit 100 here where we are. We only ventured out in the morning to water the lawn and plants. We are debating going out later to take photographs of fireworks. Still debating.
I thought of you exploring the Dakota War in and around Mankato today. I was inspired by Marylin’s piece to dig out some old photos of Camp Savage in Minnesota. It was a camp for Japanese Americans during WW II called Nisei, second generation, who were recruited to be translators. I was shocked when we found it because I did not know it existed in Minnesota. Harsh conditions at the time, imprisoned, but also fighting for our freedom and Independence. I was only going to post one photo, then ended up writing an entire piece.
Somehow we have to be able to hold both sides of these pieces of American history, one in each hand. Much the way Natalie held the cold, and you held the heat. Both are part of us, whether we like it or not. It’s good to remember. And keep history alive. Maybe we will be less inclined to repeat it in the future. Change is slow. But it does come about.
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