Book Notes

by Walter Rhett
This is a literary work of history. /wr

Illustration 1: "The Gust"

1. Heavily sprinkled with Latin and Greek words in long, flowery, complex sentences, forcefully emphasizing controversial or exalted main ideas, oratory was a main form of public entertainment and culture in the 19 th century. Featured lectures in large, ornate halls lined with crowds for and against a speaker whose knowledge was considered a part of the civil establishment of moral authority above politics was the sport of the era. The essay opens in this grand, iconic merican voice.

!ompare it to "dward "verett#s long opening second paragraph for his featured address at $ettysburg% It was appointed by law in Athens, that the obsequies of the citizens who fell in battle should he performed at the public expense, and in the most honorable manner. Their bones were carefully gathered up from the funeral pyre, where their bodies were consumed, and brought home to the city. There, for three days before the interment, they lay in state, beneath tents of honor, to receive the votive offerings of friends and relatives' flowers, weapons, precious ornaments, painted vases, !wonders of art, which after two thousand years adorn the museums of modern "urope,# the last tributes of surviving a$c tion. Ten coffins of funeral cypress received the honorable deposit, one for each of the tribes of the city, and an eleventh in memory of the unrecognized, but not therefore unhonored, dead, and of those whose remains could not be recovered.'%n the fourth day the mournful procession was formed& mothers, wives, sisters, daughters led the way, and to them it was permitted by the simplicity of ancient manners to utter aloud their lamentations for the beloved and the lost& the male relatives and friends of the deceased followed& citizens and strangers closed the train. Thus marshalled, they moved to the place of interment in that famous 'eramicus, the most beautiful suburb of Athens, which had been adorned by 'imon, the son of (iltiades, with wal)s and fountains and columns whose groves were filled with altars, shrines, and temples whose gardens were )ept forever green by the streams from the neighboring hills, and shaded with the trees sacred to (inerva and coeval with the foundation of the city, whose circuit enclosed the olive *rove of Academe, +lato's retirement, where the Attic bird Trilled his thic) warbled note the summer long& whose pathways gleamed with the monuments of the illustrious dead, the wor) of the most consummate masters that ever gave life to marble. There, beneath the over arching plane trees, upon a lofty stage erected for the purpose, it was ordained that a funeral oration should be pronounced by some citizen of Athens, in the presence of the assembled multitude. 2. Misdirection was a favorite tact of $ullah communications and strategy, well documented in the humor of its stories. &istracted by a bold claim, the main point is overlooked as attention is directed elsewhere. The main point of the essay is in the 2

second paragraph. 't is the (re)ection of the re)ection,* a dialectical act that is subtle+ and beyond the reasoning previously documented in $ullah thought,,but absolutely true. The enslaved would first have to re)ect the immediate, visceral default position of no to !hristianity. -ater, it was to be revisited. .nly in their own terms, could their first

re)ection be re)ected. 't was not an either/or, but a reconsideration0 a dialectical examination that set new rules for acceptance, the rules cited. 3. The Gullah aesthetic is rooted in an oral voice. The phrases in the dashes in paragraph three are easily understood if read orally, slowly with full phrasing. frican communication is rooted in the tradition of language as sound rather than sight reading. Tone is a part of meaning. The folktale that follows also relies on sound. 't#s central form is a dialectic interplay. 4. Howard Thurman s concept! "the waitin# moment!$ is extremely important in understanding the presence of spiritual balance the enslaved sought daily0 the (meanings* from chaos and (methods* from confusion paraphrase &r. Thurman#s description of what occurs in that moment. %. &fricans viewed life as a process! not as a series of discrete events. The transcendence of the spiritual path had much appeal over daily tribulations. '. The (rief description of the personal epiphany is real and is in keeping with the oral tradition of witnessing, sharing personal events that are the key results in a larger process. 1itnessing is a form of logical induction. 't works from the simple event to the larger presence, often different in nature and character than the experience that created it. 1itnessing connects the specific case to a larger whole. ). The &llstons proffer an excellent example of the wealth and power of the enslaved system, and its broad acceptance in merican life. They were an important part of the (voice* of slavery. *. & (rief look at the reli#ious life of the enslaved provides a surprise% urban worship services in !harleston were integrated and well attended by the enslaved, who played a variety of roles in the community#s religious life. 1+. The a(surdity of slavery is seldom displayed. 2et irrationality was a big part of the institutional practices and daily life. 'ts customs were leveraged for an advantage by the enslaved. 1hat the absurd rests on is the idiocy of the whole system, and how it points 3

to but falls short of freedom. 11. ,lavery was an economic enterprise! deeply tied to race. 3uman beings were legally defined as property. The (1eeping Time* is missing in most history accounts. 12. -ortu#uese authorities re.uired new captives be baptised before transport. !hapels with open doors at both ends were built on the beaches. s priests slung water on their skins, reciting the baptism creed, the new human cargo marched through the chapels across the sands into the waves, to the waiting ships. 13. The new transcript is an important work of long, neglected scholarship. 1hile the opening section has many words missing, the discussion appears to involve the dangers and presence of snakes in the watery bogs of the rice fields. 14. The essay section followin# the transcript looks outside of theolo#y to establishment the points of view the enslaved as a group expressed in song, stories, and prayer. 1/. ,pirituals! like faith! were tied to daily life. 4everal of the song references, (&raw -ebel,* (-ay &own, 5ody,* (4inner, 6lease,* are specific to rice field tasks and $ullah customs. 1%. The "ei#hth day$ is a reference to the day in $enesis that $od sets the world in motion and brings it to life. 4outherners will know it as the day $od created (4weet Tea.* 1'. "Merci trust0$ is a traditional $ullah greeting. The answer is (7erci#forgib8* 9Hail: Trust in the mercies of *od, Reply: Trust in the mercy of his forgiveness,# 1). The essay is wei#hed toward first person voices1 its accounts of faith practices are in the words of the enslaved0 this adds insight and a direct window into their inner vision. 1*. The final folk tale is (y turns funny and defiant! edged with danger and triumphant. 'ts main character knows woe and mercy, and offers examples of how the falling down keep getting up+how the temptation of our desires alter our path and how we must fight these temptations whatever the external conditions. 4et in slavery,, every act and idea is played out and unfolds within its context,,it is evidence of a human affection seldom spoken of by its lead players, an example of the battle for 4

humanity as well as faith that was threaded through every action. 2et there is humor and contradiction. The community plays the role of saints+but they are lying. 7assa is the devil+but he has a heart touched by grace. .ld :ohn is every man, his powers prodigious. 3e corrupts the preacher and makes him dance. 1hen it comes to his weaknesses, he is undisciplined but firmly faithfully to his gifts0 mainly he uses them for others. 3is flaw is his (lateness* 9why was he delayed;<. 3e is a mortal and moral man. 3is shame is tied to his (lateness* 9remember $ullah indirectness8<, but he repents0 with a mighty, mighty push against his inner vexation, he meets his outward trial+and wins

total victory. .ur narrator awards him independent status. .ld :ohn emerges from the miasma of temptation and cruelty that surrounds and governs the story, and directs the narrative, in which :ohn has beaten the strength of his own weakness by the power of a unseen redemption0 in a tale saturated with slavery, when the main issue slyly becomes .ld :ohn#s (lateness,* the narrator awards .ld :ohn an accolade that has nothing to do with victory by the usual trickery or deceit. .ld :ohn#s status in the community was unanimous. The success he received when confronted with every challenge shed his limitations% -In dem days,. he was a man. 2+. The .uote of God speakin# to 2o( is the final of the seven voices that are the dialogue of the work. =ineteenth century orators and griots0 a ubi>uitous, anonymous oral tradition that includes the highest order of preaching, prayer, singing, and storytelling0 a uni>ue frican language created in the crucible of slavery with elaborate grammar, rhetorical devices, and syntax0 the history teller#s voice0 the first person voices of the enslaved0 the voice of nn 4cott in prayer from the -ibrary of !ongress archives0 and finally the voice of $od, who appears and reminds :ob, as :ohn $ill explains% -The earth has foundations, firm ones that it cannot be moved& but hung in the air on nothing, The power and will of *od laid these foundations, and the /on of *od upholds all things by the word.. $od goes on to describe the folly of using reason to seek the secret counsel of $od, chiding :ob to know his limits.