Category: Black Men

A Great Brother and Great Writer Moves On

On By thewriterfredIn Black Culture, Black Literature, Black Men, San Antonio, TX2 Comments

clackLast Thursday, I was surprised to read a Facebook posting by one of the most respected men in the San Antonio literary community. Cary Clack, who had served for the past year as Communication Director for Mayor Ivy Taylor, agreed to resign from his position. Cary is a native of San Antonio, who as a young intern at the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, wrote a number of commentaries for the late and great Coretta Scott King for her appearances on CNN. He was a columnist for the San Antonio Express News for over seventeen years and served as District Director for the office of Congressman Joaquin Castro until he gave up that position to serve with Mayor Taylor. Cary is a brother who cares very much about his community and has always been one of the most principled human beings that it has been my privilege to know; and also a very polished and professional writer and communicator. Why he decided to leave the mayor’s office right at the beginning of her term is a discussion and subject he does not want to engage in publicly, because he does not want to become fuel for the fire of the Taylor haters and there are a lot of them in the community.

I believe Cary left he mayor’s office because he was not comfortable with his role. He is a writer and must feel free to express himself as he sees fit. That is what a good writer must do. Working for any politician, you must be willing to relinquish that kind of freedom and be nothing more than the mouthpiece for whomever you may work. One fact, however, is indisputable; Mayor Taylor lost a very good man when she lost our friend Cary. His character is reflected in the fact that just before Mayor Taylor decided to run for a full term in office, Cary was approached by executives from the University of Texas System in Austin about a job as speechwriter for the new Chancellor, General William McRaven, the man who led President Barack Obama’s successful operation to get Osama Bin Laden. He went to the mayor and asked what she planned to do and she then told him that she would run. He felt that his loyalty to her, in what would be a very hotly contested race, was more important than taking the job, and decided to stay put in her office.

Now that he has decided to move on, many in the community are wondering what is next for this man of many accomplishments. No doubt he’ll have a myriad of offers from various newspapers, possibly some national magazines and he already has one from Prosperity Publications. As a fledgling publishing company with limited resources, we are not in the position to offer Cary the kind of salary that his talent demands. But I do know he is the kind of person that we want to have as an associate, partner or maybe just a writer in our company. We want good, honorable people, who will not compromise their principles for financial gain. Writers who want to tell the story about our heritage and culture and in doing so make a positive impact on our race. Cary is that kind of person and the mayor should have done everything in her power to keep him in her office. But since she didn’t, some other literary entity is going to be blessed with a talented Black writer who will do great things for their company.

The Thrill Will Never Be Gone

On By thewriterfredIn Black Culture, Black History, Black Men3 Comments

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           On last Thursday, our culture and the world lost a giant of a man when the great bluesman B.B. King passed on to the next world, where I am sure he is gearing up to entertain as he did here.

What is most important is that we not concentrate on the lost of the physical man, but instead on the legacy of his music. B.B. King left his imprint on the culture much in the same way as Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois did in academics, Richard Wright in literature, and Jackie Robinson in sports. For that reason what he accomplished will live on. What more can an individual do in the short amount of time he/she visits this place called earth.

As far back as Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Robert Johnson and Ethel Waters, blues has been one of the mainstays of music within the African American culture. Many argue it is an off-spring of spirituals and just like Paul Robeson brought spirituals out of the cotton fields of the South to Strivers Row in Harlem, singers like Muddy Waters and B.B. King brought blues to the cities of America and that is why it must be considered as an important foundation within the culture.

Many of us can remember and still appreciate the men and women who sang the blues over the years. We can still hear Muddy Waters singing, “Got My Mojo Working,” or Little Walter playing the harmonica and also singing, “My Babe.” How about Z.Z. Hill, “Cheating in the Next Room,” and “Down Home Blues.”  And of course there was B.B King’s counterpart, Bobby Blue Bland who gave us, “Members Only, It’s a private party. Don’t need no money to qualify. Don’t bring your checkbook. Bring your broken heart ’cause it’s members only tonight.”  I can’t leave out Johnnie Taylor with, “We’re Getting Careless with our Love,” and “I Believe in You, You Believe in Me.”

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            Then there was Lattimore telling his woman, “Let’s Straighten It Out.” Now some of you probably will disagree with my categorization of Bobby Womack as a singer of the blues, but I feel that his “If You Think You’re Lonely Now, Wait Until Tonight Girl,” and “That’s The Way I Feel About ’Cha,” is close enough to be considered in that genre of music. The same can be true of Etta James when she sang, “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (to stop now),” and of course, “At Last.” This music and all these artists brought something magical to Black America. They made it honorable to be Black and tolerable to be poor.

The one person who best personified that magic was B. B. King. When he sang and played Lucille, one felt centuries of struggle, strife, compassion, love and endurance. If you listen closely to the words in the song, “Why I Sing the Blues,” you get entertainment, history and empowerment. No matter where you lived in this country, be it Brown Bottom in Jackson, Mississippi, Southside of Chicago, Hastings Street in Detroit, Watts in Los Angeles, or Harlem in New York, the sounds of B.B. King could be heard coming from tenement houses, row houses, apartments and projects, nightclubs and local bars, and even in parks on any given Saturday night or Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving or just a plain old weekend.

The King of the Blues was returned to his home state of Mississippi for burial. He had chosen Indianola as his home even though he was born in the very tiny country town, Berclair near Itta Bena. He chose not to be buried in Las Vegas, Nevada where he passed away, but in the Delta, the very roots of his beginning. Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant ended his tribute to the state’s greatest musician with the quote, “He is the King. The thrill is gone.” Well, the governor got it half right. He is still the King; however, he also got it half wrong. The thrill is not gone and it will never leave us because of the grace and beauty of our culture captured in his music. The legacy has just begun.