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Makes you want to run out and kill someone


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9780944092699.jpgI was reviewing the discussion forum archives (2005 to 2010) and discovered this post from almost 18 years ago:

 

Makes you want to run out and kill someone

 

Basically, the post was about someone sharing information on a book of lynching photos, Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America.  I did not want to see the book and never even considered sharing it.  I dismissed it as just cruelty porn

 

The responders to my post disagreed with me saying it was important that this information be shared.

 

I have clearly changed my position on this subject.  I have (just now) added the book to the site.  I guess I have learned a lot 

 

The YouTube video shows the photo from the book (I plan to order a copy). The video can't be embedded because there is an age restriction.  (This is a trigger Warning! viewer discretion advised: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRnToazuDaQ)

 

The book can, of course, be purchased on Amazon.  I linked to Amazon in the forum post.  The link still works.  To Amazon's credit, they have not broken a product link still they have started. Barnes and Noble has broken product links multiple times, and this is one of many reasons Amazon took over dominance of online book sales when B&N was the market leader.

 

But Amazon is so freaking greedy they have set it up so they people can purchase a tee shirt featuring the image of a person being strung up! Seems like Amazon would be smarter about this, but when making money is your number one priority sensitivity is of little concern.

 

amazon-is-just-greedy.jpg

 

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While I understand the sentiment of "makes you want to run out and kill someone", somewhere between early Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. is where the real energy lies.

 

AfroAmericans should never stop collecting every piece of evidence that can be used to indict America of its original sin of slavery and the aftermath of it.  Nor should we drop the case (reparations).  

 

Jews will never let people forget the holocaust and the Auschwitz concentration camp and the diary of Anne Frank. 

 

AfroAmericans should be so diligent about knowing their own history and pursuing the debt America owes.  BTW, racism white supremacy is still alive too.  😎

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I bought this publication when it was first released. I always viewed it as a companion to "100 Years of Lynching." 

I understand and fully support Troy's initial reaction. Since I had already read "100 Years of Lynching" and bought two more copes for friends, "Without Sanctuary" merely confirmed the information I had and what my imagination had conjured up. 

Black Americans have been mistreated horribly in this hemisphere. We should never ignore this or attempt to stop others from learning or teaching about it.

That's how we ended up with an ignorant Kanye West spouting "Slavery was a choice." If this fool knew what went on and what our ancestors suffered during those dark times, he would have never said that. 

While I was teaching, my students were prone to ask all sorts of questions that were unrelated to essay writing. One query had to do with how Black Slaves were treated in the U.S. Since half of my students were either born overseas or were first generation Americans, I decided to bring my "Without Sanctuary" book to my classes. About a third of my students in total were Asian and their parents hailed from different countries. Most were women.

The students were understandably shocked and dismayed at the photos. Those who were Black and Latino were especially upset. None smiled.  But it was on the train ride back to Brooklyn that I received the most memorable reaction. This was just months after Barack Obama stunned the world and won the White House. 

I sat in my subway seat and pulled out the book. And slowly began to turn the pages. A lot of subway passengers who were standing were staring at the photos. But no one said anything. Until the the train stopped in Chinatown. At this station, I always craned my neck and searched the rush of oncoming riders because there was bound to be someone much older who needed to sit down. But there were none this day.

Instead, the train car filled up. I didn't see any ones would could not stand and I resumed slowly turning the pages. I knew many were who were standing near me were staring at the photos. Suddenly, a young Asian woman about 25 snatched the book from my lap and held it up to her so her boyfriend could see the photos right side up.

A crowd of Chinese immediately surrounded her, all looking at the photos. She went back to the first page and began turning the pages. Everyone around her pushed in closer to see the photos. The train rumbled across the Manhattan Bridge on its way to Brooklyn. The woman kept the book until we got to the subway stop at 36th Street. Then she handed it back. She had tears in her eyes. I simply nodded and said softly ... "this is what they used to do to us." 36th Street is the station where subway terrorist Frank James launched his attack.

You would think Chinese college students, who must have seen photos of "The Rape of Nanking" and countless Holocaust images, would not be moved by lynching photos. But this young woman and the ones who stood behind her were.

This is why this publication must be seen. And never hidden. The world must know. 

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Book Cover Image of 100 Years of Lynchings by Ralph GinzburgThanks for that @Stefan   Your story explains the importance of books in a meaningful way.

 

I will reference your comments when I share information about the book (after I get my copy).

 

Ginzburg's book was first published over 60 years ago and is kept in print by Black Classic Press.  They too understand the importance of books even obscure and old ones.

 

100 Years of Lynchings
by Ralph Ginzburg

Publication Date: Nov 22, 1996
List Price: $14.95
Format: Paperback, 270 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
ISBN13: 9780933121188
Imprint: Black Classic Press

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Chicago activist, Ida B. Wells, journalist, and charter member of the NAACP, much to the chagrin of the men who wanted the females to stay in their place and do secretarial work, protested tirelessly at the risk of her life to keep focus on the lynching of black people in America.  And she did this to the day she died in 1931. 

 

Chicago cherishes her legacy and her most recent honor was having a main thoroughfare named after her. Black women have always been in the thick of the battle.  

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