#john j. montgomery elementary

[jpbjazz]

LÉGENDES DU JAZZ

ERSKINE HAWKINS, LES HAUTS ET LES BAS D’UN TROMPETTISTE

"Basically, you try to give the same effort for 2,000 people or 20. That's the way I was brought up."

- Erskine Hawkins

Né le 26 juillet 1914 à Enon Ridge, près de Birmingham, en Alabama, Erskine Ramsay Hawkins était un des cinq enfants d’Edward et Cary Hawkins. Hawkins, qui avait trois frères et une soeur, avait été baptisé ainsi pour rendre hommage à l’industriel Erskine Ramsay. Après la mort de son père durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, la famille de Hawkins était allée habiter près de la famille de sa mère dans les environs du Tuggle Institute (aujourd’hui Tuggle Elementary School). C’est d’ailleurs là que Hawkins avait commencé à étudier à partir de l’âge de six ans. La mère de Hawkins était institutrice et avait familiarisé ses enfants avec la musique dès leur plus jeune âge.

Excellant particulièrement en musique et dans le domaine sportif (plus particulièrement au basketball, au football et au tennis), Hawkins avait d’abord commencé à jouer de la batterie à l’âge de sept ans, avant de passer au trombone et au saxophone baryton quelques années plus tard. Hawkins avait adopté définitivement la trompette à l’âge de seize ans. Hawkins était encore enfant lorsqu’il avait commencé à jouer dans le parc local.

À l’adolescence, Hawkins avait poursuivi ses études à l’Industrial High School (aujourd’hui devenue la Parker High School) de Birmingham, où il avait formé un groupe avec des musiciens comme Bob Range et Haywood Henry. Évidemment, le groupe n’avait pas tardé à se produire dans les principaux clubs de Birmingham.

Après avoir décroché son diplôme en 1930, Hawkins était entré à l’Alabama State Teachers College de Montgomery (aujourd’hui l’Alabama State University) dans le cadre d’une scolarité en tennis qu’il avait bientôt abandonnée en faveur d’une majeure en musique. Dans le cadre de ses études, Hawkins avait joué de la trompette avec les ’Bama State Collegians, un groupe dirigé par John T. ‘’Fess’’ Whatley, un professeur qui avait enseigné à plusieurs musiciens afro-américains, dont plusieurs avaient travaillé plus tard avec Duke Ellington, Lucky Millinder, Louis Armstrong et Skitch Henderson du NBC Orchestra. Whatley a été intronisé au sein du Alabama Music Hall of Fame en 1991. 

Il existait trois principaux groupes collégiaux à Montgomery à l’époque, les ‘Balma Collegians, les Revelers et les Cavaliers. Après avoir fait un bref séjour avec les Revelers, Hawkins s’était joint aux Collegians, qui comprenaient les meilleurs musiciens de l’école dont Avery Parish au piano, Bob Range au trombone, Haywood Henry à la clarinette et au saxophone baryton, et les frères Bascomb, Wilbur “Dud” et Paul Bascomb (respectivement à la trompette et au saxophone ténor).

Dirigé par  J. B. Sims, un chanteur dont le style ressemblait beaucoup à celui de Cab Calloway, le groupe s’était rapidement établi comme un des meilleurs groupes collégiaux au pays. Le groupe jouait surtout du jazz et de la musique de danse, mais aussi de la musique militaire et des oeuvres symphoniques. Même si Hawkins avait obtenu son diplôme en 1934, il était demeuré à l’école pour enseigner la musique et jouer avec le groupe.

Très influencé par Armstrong, Hawkins avait bénéficié d’une solide formation, ce qui lui avait permis de développer une technique impressionnante ainsi qu’une très large portée.

C’est d’ailleurs avec les ‘Bama State Collegians que Hawkins avait fait ses débuts sur disque avec les disques Vocalion de 1936 à 1938. Mal enregistrés, les premiers albums du groupe s’étaient cependant très mal vendus.

DÉBUTS DE CARRIÈRE

En 1934, Hawkins s’était vu confier la mission, à l’âge de seulement vingt ans, de se rendre à New York avec le groupe afin de recueillir des fonds pour l’école. Lors d’un concert au célèbre Théâtre Apollo, Hawkins avait même reçu la visite de son idole Louis Armstrong dans sa loge.

Les Collegians s’étaient particulièrement fait connaître dans le cadre d’une tournée dans le Nord-est en 1934. Après avoir assisté à un concert du groupe à Asbury Park, au New Jersey, des musiciens de New York avaient invité les membres de la formation à venir se produire au Harlem Opera House et au Brooklyn's Fox Folly. Saisissant la chance de devenir musiciens professionnels et de faire encore plus d’argent, le groupe avait décidé de nommer Hawkins comme leader et de changer de nom adopter celui de Erskine Hawkins and His Orchestra. Dans les premières années, le groupe s’était produit en tournée et dans les principaux clubs de New York, dont le célèbre Théâtre Apollo, la Harlem Opera House et la Ubangi Room, ainsi que dans des écoles de danse et dans d’autres salles. La musique du groupe était principalement influencée à l’époque par Louis Armstrong, Jimmie Lunceford et Count Basie.

En 1938, Hawkins avait signé un nouveau contrat avec RCA Victor et avait commencé à enregistrer pour sa filiale Blue Bird. Le rôle de la formation se limitait alors surtout à accompagner les chanteurs Billy Daniels et Merle Turner. Les choses avaient cependant commencé à changer à partir de la seconde session d’enregistrement du groupe le 8 septembre, alors qu’avaient été gravées les pièces “Swinging In Harlem” et “Big John’s Special.” À compter de cette date, le groupe avait commencé à se concentrer sur un matériel essentiellement instrumental. Parmi les succès enregistrés par le groupe au cours de cette période, on remarquait notamment “Uproar Shout,” “I’ve Found A New Baby”, “Carry Me Back To Old Virginny”, “Who’s Sorry Now”, “Lost In The Shuffle”, “Rockin’ Rollers’ Jubilee”, “Weary Blues”, “King Porter Stomp”, “Raid The Joint”, “Swingin’ On Lenox Avenue”, “Hot Platter”, “Gin Mill Special”, “Satan Does The Rhumba” et “Uptown Shuffle.’’

Le groupe avait connu relativement peu de changements dans son alignement au cours des six années suivantes. La plupart des membres du groupe étaient originaires de Birmingham et adoraient jouer ensemble, ce qui avait donné énormément de cohésion à la formation. Très apprécié du public afro-américain, le groupe rivalisait même avec la popularité des grands orchestres de Duke Ellington et de Count Basie. Il était aussi très apprécié en Europe.

En 1937, Hawkins avait également fait une apparition avec son groupe dans le court-métrage Deviled Hams.

À la fin des années 1930, le groupe de Hawkins était devenu un des groupes-maison du Savoy Ballroom. Au Savoy Ballroom, Hawkins et son groupe se produisaient en alternance avec l’orchestre de Chick Webb, et utilisaient souvent la plus célèbre composition de Hawkins,  "Tuxedo Junction", comme thème musical. La pièce “Tuxedo Junction”, qui avait atteint la 7e position du palmarès en 1939, avait été co-écrite par Hawkins, William Johnson et Julian Dash et faisait référence à un quartier de Birmingham. Buddy Feyne avait ajouté des paroles un peu plus tard. En fait, la chanson avait atteint une telle popularité qu’elle était éventuellement devenue la musique thème des troupes américaines en Europe durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. La chanson était aussi devenue l’hymne non officiel du club. Quand même pas mal pour une pièce qui avait été enregistrée à la dernière minute comme ‘’bouche-trou...’’

Au fil des années, la chanson avait été reprise par des artistes aussi divers que Duke Ellington, Harry James, les Andrews Sisters, Stan Kenton, Quincy Jones, Chet Atkins, King Curtis, Floyd Cramer, Gene Krupa, Duane Eddy, Joe Jackson et plus tard, par le groupe vocal Manhattan Transfer.

Même si la version de Hawkins avait connu un grand succès et avait assuré la célébrité du groupe, elle avait été rapidement éclipsée par la version de Glenn Miller qui avait atteint la 1ère position du palmarès. Plusieurs spécialistes de jazz considéraient toutefois la version de Hawkins supérieure. Le second grand succès de la carrière de Hawkins, “After Hours’’ (1940), avait été composé par le pianiste Avery Parrish et était devenu un standard du jazz. La chanson avait été reprise par plusieurs pianistes par la suite. Parmi les autres succès du groupe, on remarquait “Someone’s Rockin’ My Dreamboat” (1941), “Tippin’ In’’ (1945) et surtout  “Gabriel’s Heater’’, qui avait atteint la 30e position du Hit Parade en 1948.

Le groupe d’Hawkins participait aussi régulièrement aux célèbres batailles des big bands qui opposaient les orchestres de Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington et Lionel Hampton au Savoy Ballroom. Les concerts du Savoy Ballroom étaient souvent retransmis à la radio, ce qui avait encore ajouté à la popularité du groupe auprès des Afro-Américains, même si celui-ci ne vendait à peu près pas de disques chez la population blanche.

Si des orchestres comme ceux d’Andy Kirk et de Chuck Webb étaient devenus de plus en plus commerciaux et orientés vers le jazz vocal à la fin des années 1930, Hawkins avait toujours su garder l’emphase sur le swing et la musique de danse. C’est le trompettiste Sammy Lowe, le pianiste Avery Parrish et le saxophoniste alto William Johnson qui écrivaient les arrangements du groupe. Même si Hawkins avait une prédilection pour la musique instrumentale, le groupe avait également eu dans son alignement d’excellentes chanteuses comme Delores Brown, Ida James et Della Reese.

En 1943, un concert du groupe d’Hawkins qui avait lieu à Little Rock, en Arkansas, avait presque dégénéré en émeute raciale. Comme John Bedford Jr. l’écrivait dans le magazine Downbeat en octobre 1943:  "3,000 Negroes jammed into the Exhibition Hall to dance to the music of Hawkins and his crew became unruly and began to push white police all over the floor. Police brandished their guns and blackjacks and attempted to quiet the crowd--but only after Hawkins and his boys broke into the national anthem did the dancers settle down." La ville de Little Rock avait éventuellement interdit l’accès des danses aux Noirs à la suite de la confrontation.

Au milieu des années 1940, Hawkins avait enregistré plusieurs grands succès pour les disques RCA. Durant la seconde moitié de la décennie, le groupe de Hawkins était devenu un incontournable du circuit du jazz à New York et se produisait régulièrement dans des salles comme le Savoy Ballroom et le Théâtre Apollo. Il se rendait aussi jusqu’en Californie à l’occasion.

Hawkins était demeuré avec les disques RCA jusqu’en 1950 alors qu’il avait signé un contrat avec Coral Records.

LES MEMBRES DU GROUPE

Même si tous les membres du groupe d’Hawkins étaient excellents, cinq d’entre eux étaient devenus des musiciens majeurs: Dud et Paul Bascomb, Julian Dash, Haywood Henry et Avery Parrish.

La plupart des solos de trompette qu’on entend sur les enregistrements d’Hawkins jusqu’en 1942 n’avaient pas été interprétés par Hawkins, mais par le trompettiste ‘’Dud’’ Bascomb (1916-72). Le plus souvent, Hawkins se contentait d’établir l’ambiance en poussant quelques hautes notes avant de laisser la place à Bascomb. Né sous le nom de Wilbur Odell Bascomb, Dud Bascomb avait fait partie du groupe de 1932 à 1944. Après avoir quitté le groupe pour se joindre à la formation de son frère Paul, Bascomb avait fait un bref séjour dans l’orchestre de Duke Ellington en 1947, avant de se joindre aux groupes de Sam “The Man” Taylor, Buddy Tate et James Brown, et de diriger son propre groupe durant quinze ans. Bascomb avait également travaillé comme musicien de studio et dans la fosse d’orchestre de comédies musicales de Broadway. Bascomb avait aussi dirigé trois sessions avec des big bands en 1945-46 ainsi que quelques sessions avec de petits groupes pour les disques Savoy de 1959 à 1961. Bascomb avait retrouvé Hawkins pour un dernier enregistrement en 1971.

De quatre ans l’aîné de son frère Dud, Paul Bascomb (1912-86) avait également participé à la fondation des ’Bama Street Collegians en 1932. La sonorité chaude de Paul au saxophone ténor avait d’ailleurs formé un élément essentiel du style du groupe. Paul Bascomb avait quitté le groupe de Hawkins en 1938 pour se joindre à l’orchestre de Count Evans en remplacement d’Herschel Evans qui venait de mourir. Bascomb  avait enregistré une seule fois avec Basie le 13 décembre 1940. Après avoir quitté le groupe de Hawkins en 1944, Bascomb avait dirigé un septet qui avait éventuellement été transformé en big band. Bascomb n’avait cependant enregistré qu’avec de petites formations. Même si Bascomb avait dirigé quelques sessions de 1952 à 1955 dans un style alternant du swing au rhythm & blues, il avait cessé complètement d’enregistrer de 1956 à 1977. Bascomb était toutefois demeuré actif, et s’était produit comme artiste-invité au Festival de jazz de Nice en 1978 dans le cadre de jam sessions mettant en vedette Helen Humes, Vic Dickenson, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Eddie “Cleanhead’’ Vinson, Illinois Jacquet et Carrie Smith. Le seul autre enregistrement de Bascomb après cette date était une session avec un groupe local de Chicago dirigé par le trompettiste Yves Simierciak en 1981, cinq ans avant sa mort.

Lorsque Paul Bascomb avait quitté le groupe d’Hawkins pour la première fois en 1938, il avait été remplacé par Julian Dash (1916-74). Pour Hawkins, Dash était le successeur idéal, car son style ressemblait à s’y méprendre à celui de Bascomb. Dash, qui avait amorcé sa carrière comme saxophoniste alto, avait joué avec les Charleston Nighthawks en 1935 avant de se joindre au groupe de Hawkins. Anecdote intéressante, Dash avait d’abord étudié pour devenir embaumeur, mais il avait éventuellement décidé d’abandonne la thanatologie pour devenir musicien... Après avoir dirigé le groupe-maison du Monroe’s Uptown House de 1936 à 1938, Dash s’était joint au groupe d’Hawkins. Lorsque  Paul Bascomb était revenu avec le groupe, Hawkins avait décidé de garder les deux saxophonistes ténor. Dash était finalement demeuré avec Hawkins jusqu’en 1953. Par la suite, il avait dirigé quelques sessions avec de petits groupes et avait participé à deux albums avec le trompettiste Buck Clayton. À la fin de sa vie, Dash avait également collaboré à deux albums de Jimmy Rushing (1967), à un album de Jay McShann (1972) et co-dirigé un album avec le pianiste Cliff Smalls en 1970. 

À l’époque où Haywood Henry (1913-94) avait enregistré pour la première fois avec Hawkins, les saxophonistes baryton étaient plutôt rares dans les big bands à l’exception d’Harry Carney qui s’était joint à l’orchestre de Duke Ellington en 1927. D’un an plus âgé qu’Hawkins, Henry faisait partie des Bama State Collegians depuis le début des années 1930. Même si son principal instrument était la clarinette, Henry avait interprété occasionnellement des solos de baryton sur plusieurs des albums du groupe. Jusqu’en 1949, Henry n’avait enregistré qu’avec Hawkins, date à laquelle il avait commencé à accompagner d’autres artistes comme Billie Holiday et Julian Dash.  Après avoir quitté le groupe d’Hawkins en 1952, Henry était devenu musicien de studio et avait participé à titre anonyme à plus de 1000 albums de rock n’ roll durant les années 1950 et 1960. Au cours de cette période, Henry avait également collaboré avec plusieurs grands noms du jazz dont Ruth Brown, Earl Hines, Al Hibbler, Big Joe Turner, Sammy Price, Jimmy Rushing, Jimmy Witherspoon, le Fletcher Henderson Reunion Band, Illinois Jacquet, Ray Charles, Panama Francis, Willis Jackson, Eddie Harris, Sy Oliver et Clark Terry.

De 1969 à 1971, Henry avait également joué en tournée et enregistré avec Earl Hines. Il avait aussi participé à un hommage à Barney Bigard et Russell Procope avec Jimmy Hamilton et trois autres clarinettistes en 1981. Toujours actif au début des années 1990, Henry avait enregistré trois albums comme leader au cours de sa carrière, dont The Gentle Monster en 1983.

Des cinq membres majeurs du groupe de Hawkins, le plus importait était sans doute le pianiste Avery Parrish (1917-59). Né et élevé à Birmingham, Parrish s’était joint au  Erskine Hawkins Orchestra juste à temps pour participer à son premier enregistrement en 1936. Il était demeuré avec le groupe jusqu’en 1942. Parrish s’était particulièrement rendu célèbre pour avoir composé le grand succès “After Hours” (1940). Parrish avait aussi écrit à l’occasion des arrangements pour Hawkins, dont “Swing Out” et “Riff Time”. Excellent pianiste de swing et de blues, Parrish serait sûrement devenu une grande vedette si sa carrière n’avait pas été assombrie par trois tragédies majeures.

En août 1942, Parrish avait été impliqué dans un accident d’automobile qui avait causé la mort d’un des trompettistes d’Hawkins, Marcellus Green. Grandement affecté par la tragédie, Parrish avait quitté le groupe et s’était installé en Californie où il avait remporté un certain succès jusqu’à ce qu’il soit frappé à la tête au cours d’une bagarre survenue dans un bar, ce qui l’avait laissé partiellement paralysé et l’avait empêché de jouer du piano sur une base régulière. Même si Parrish avait enregistré une nouvelle version de la pièce “After Hours” avec Dud Bascomb en 1946, sa carrière de pianiste était pratiquement terminée, ce qui l’avait contraint de gagner sa vie en occupant différents petits emplois. Selon certaines sources, Parrish serait décédé en 1959 cinq jours après avoir fait une chute dans un escalier de Harlem.

Même si le départ des frères Bascomb et de Parrish avait ébranlé Hawkins, il avait su conserver intact le reste de son alignement. Hawkins avait finalement réussi à relancer son orchestre avec l’ajout d’un nouveau saxophoniste alto, Bobby Smith, qui s’était rapidement établi comme un excellent compositeur. En 1945, Smith avait d’ailleurs été en vedette sur le troisième grand succès du groupe, “Tippin’ In.” Même si les derniers enregistrements du groupe avaient démontré l’influence croissante du rhythm & blues (et même du bebop dans une certaine mesure), Hawkins avait su maintenir le caractère distinctif de la formation jusqu’à ce qu’elle soit finalement démantelée en 1953.

DERNIÈRES ANNÉES

Même si en 1953, Hawkins n’avait que trente-neuf, les plus beaux jours de sa carrière étaient déjà derrière lui. À la suite du déclin des big bands, Hawkins avait réduit la taille de son groupe à un octet, puis à un quartet, ajoutant parfois une chanteuse à son alignement. Hawkins avait très peu enregistré à partir de 1953, même s’il avait signé un contrat avec les disques Decca en 1954. Après avoir enregistré quatre pièces en 1956, Hawkins était retourné en studio quatre ans plus tard pour enregistrer en sextet avec le saxophoniste Bobby Smith dans le cadre de l’album The Hawk Blows At Midnight. Avaient suivi deux albums peu connus,  25 Golden Years Of Jazz Vols. 1 & 2 (1962), et un album-réunion avec son ancien groupe intitulé Live At Club Soul Sound (1971).

Dans les années 1960, Hawkins se produisait régulièrement au Embers Club de New York. Il jouait aussi à l’occasion dans les festivals de jazz et dans le cadre de certaines croisières. De 1967 à 1993, Hawkins avait dirigé son propre groupe au Concord Resort Hotel de Kiamesha Lake, dans l'État de New York. La formation était composée de Joe Vitale au piano, de Dudly Watson à la contrebasse, de Sonny Rossi au chant et à la clarinette et de George Leary à la batterie. Le fait que Hawkins ait si peu enregistré au cours des quatre dernières décennies de sa vie demeure un mystère.

Erskine Hawkins est mort d’une crise cardiaque à sa résidence de Willingboro, au New Jersey, le 11 novembre 1993, à l’âge de soixante-dix-neuf ans. Hawkins laissait dans le deuil sa soeur Rosa Weaver. Il a été inhumé  au cimetière d’Elmwood Cemetery, à Birmingham, en Alabama.

Hawkins s’est marié à deux reprises. En 1935, Hawkins avait épousé Florence Browning, une institutrice et actrice qui avait joué le rôle de Nicky dans le film That Man of Mine en 1946 aux côtés de Ruby Dee. Réalisé par Leonard Anderson, le film qui comptait une distribution exclusivement de couleur, mettait également en vedette le groupe de jazz féminin The International Sweethearts of Rhythm. Après l’échec de son mariage avec Browning, Hawkins s’était remarié en secondes noces avec Gloria Dumas, sur laquelle nous savons peu de choses.

Surnommé “the 20th Century Gabriel” en raison de ses solos flamboyants et de sa capacité à jouer dans les hautes notes, Hawkins avait dirigé un des meilleurs groupes de l’ère du swing. Il est également considéré comme une des principales influences du chanteur Ray Charles.

Hawkins n’avait pas toujours fait l’unanimité auprès des critiques. Un des critiques les plus sévères était Barry Ulanov qui avait décrit le groupe d’Hawkins comme une pâle imitation de l’orchestre de Jimmie Lunceford. Ulanov avait ajouté que le groupe d’Hawkins laissait une impression de diamant non poli et de talent insuffisamment développé. De son côté, le critique français Hugues Panassié avait cité Hawkins dans sa liste des meilleurs chefs d’orchestre de swing de la fin des années 1930 jusqu’au début des années 1950.

Même s’il n’était plus aussi populaire à la fin de sa carrière qu’à ses débuts dans les années 1930, Hawkins croyait que son travail restait toujours le même quel que soit le nombre de spectateurs. Comme Hawkins l’avait déclaré au cours d’une entrevue qu’il avait accordée en 1988 cinq ans avant sa mort: "Basically, you try to give the same effort for 2,000 people or 20. That's the way I was brought up."

Trompettiste aujourd’hui pratiquement tombé dans l’oubli, Hawkins était devenu en 1978 le premier des cinq artistes à faire son entrée au Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. En 1989, Hawkins avait également été admis au sein de l’Alabama Music Hall of Fame. En 1947, Hawkins s’était mérité un doctorat honorifique en musique de son alma mater, l’Alabama State Teachers College. Depuis le milieu des années 1980, l’anniversaire de naissance de Hawkins est célébré annuellement à Birmingham. Le vieux parc de Tuxedo Junction a été rebaptisé Erskine Hawkins Park en son honneur.

Les enregistrements d’Hawkins de 1936 à 1947 ont récemment été réédités sur CD par Classic Records.

©-2024, tous droits réservés, Les Productions de l’Imaginaire historique

[venusinorbit]

CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) - A local group is trying to add some beauty and color to San Diego County.

The Artreach Mural Program is designed to allow kids to explore their creativity while establishing a connection to their community, something that's done even before murals are painted.

Oscar Gallegos, a student at John J. Montgomery Elementary, said this is the feeling he gets every time he sees the brand new welcome mural at his school.

"It feels great to think, hey, my friend helped make that. I helped bring this to life," Gallegos said.

He, along with his classmates, participated in the unveiling Tuesday morning. It was designed by the entire 6th-grade class. Their idea was to highlight the school's eagle mascot, palm trees that are seen all around San Diego, to an art brush that represents the arts on campus.

Isabel Halpern, the mural program manager, says, "They don't just start by painting - they start by drawing out our ideas having group collaborative brainstorms for what they can see for the walls on their school or community center."

All of this is done through the organization Artreach Mural Program, which works directly with youth in our community through their schools or community centers, giving them a platform and tools to create murals.

[cincinnatusvirtue]

Martin Luther King (1929-1968): America’s best known activist in the African-American Civil Rights struggle.

Martin Luther King was born January 15th, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia born as Martin J. King Jr.  His father Martin Sr. was a Baptist minister in Georgia and his mother Alberta Williams King was a minister’s daughter herself.  King was born into the midst of what was known as the Jim Crow South, the post Civil War era set of laws in the Southern United States that legalized segregation of citizens along racial grounds and effectively disenfranchised African-Americans.  These laws continued the discrimination and legacy of racism that most African-Americans had experienced since slavery had been introduced on the American continent centuries before.  The laws were passed by Democratic majorities in the South and while initially in the aftermath of the Civil War in the Reconstruction era, members of the Republican party that dominated the Northern states tried to pass laws that would have limited Jim Crow’s effects, the combination of divisions within the moderate and radical wings of the Republican Party, voter intimidation, Northern racism, political corruption and a sort of national desire to “move on” effectively allowed the Jim Crow laws to take hold and exist for the following century.

King grew up with white friends until the start of elementary school when segregation in schools separated them.  Segregation and second-class citizenry in the American South was a daily reality for King and most African-Americans.  African-Americans had to attend separate schools, churches, could not vote unless certain standards such as literacy tests were met and had to use alternate entrances in places of public accommodation, ride buses in segregated fashion and couldn’t even drink from the same water fountains in some instances.  Jim Crow took on various forms in depending where one lived in the South and discrimination and racist tension was prevalent in the North as well.  The 1896 US Supreme Court decision in Plessy vs. Ferguson upheld the doctrine of “separate but equal” for many government institutions effectively legalizing segregation.

King though occasionally physically disciplined by his father did come to admire his father’s standing up to segregation and was an inspiration on King growing up.  King himself admitted to feelings of resentment towards whites as a teenager.  Despite King’s own occasional doubts about religion and a lifelong struggle with self-doubt and depression, he like his father would go to seminary school in the hopes of becoming a Baptist minister as he saw the church as the way to answer what he called an “inner urge to serve humanity.”   King was known in high school as great orator early as part of the debate team, he also was a student with good enough grades to skip 9th and 12th grades.  In college he attended first Morehouse College in Atlanta, a traditionally black male college and later the Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania from which he would graduate in 1951.

While at Crozer, King was briefly romantically linked to a cafeteria worker from Germany and even contemplated marrying her.  However, he was discouraged by family and friends on the grounds that an interracial marriage, especially in the South would upset both whites and blacks.  As a result of these pressures, King called off the relationship, though he was reportedly quite depressed over it.  Later, King would meet his future wife, Coretta Scott.  Coretta was from Alabama, the daughter of the descendants of former slaves.  Her father was a business owner police man at various times.  Her mother helped in the family business of running a general store and a lumber mill but also worked as a school bus driver and pianist in the local church.  Coretta herself had aspirations of a being a musician and was attending school at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston when through a mutual friend she met King.  She was initially hesitant to date him but continued after his persistence in pursuing her, they would marry in 1953.  She initially had wanted a career in music but largely sacrificed it to help her husband pursue his own career in the ministry and to raise their family and the subsequent Civil Rights cause that was to become the main cause of their lives together. 

September 1st, 1954 saw King become the new minister at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.  In 1955 the Kings had their first child, a daughter, Yolanda.  They would go on to have 3 more, Dexter, Martin Luther III and Bernice.  1955 also saw two incidents that would help spur the Civil Rights movement.  In Montgomery, public buses allowed bus drivers the authority to assign seating and since all drivers were white that meant black citizens effectively either had to ride in the back of the bus or give up their seat to a white citizen upon request, to refuse would risk a fine and and/or arrest.  The buses at the time had 75% usage by black citizens of the city.  In March of that year a teenager by the name of Claudette Colvin was arrested after refusing to give up her seat to make room for a white woman on the bus.  The incident was largely kept under wraps.  In December, most famously NAACP secretary Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat and was arrested and fined.

King was made a local leader in the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) which was founded by local black ministers.  Upon taking up the cause of Rosa Parks case a boycott of Montgomery buses was launched.  A combination of refusal to ride buses and instead provide taxi and carpool services for the African-American community ultimately lead to economic hardship for the city.  The boycott worked and de-segregation of the buses and the hiring of black bus drivers was allowed.  This helped raise awareness of the Civil Rights movement in general and made Martin Luther King the best known name for the Civil Rights movement henceforth.  Though there were signs of a backlash and the violence that was to shadow King’s life thereafter.  A shotgun was fired through the front door of the King home, a fellow minister’s home was bombed, black teenagers were beaten in a number of instances and even white Montgomery citizens who sided with the MIA and Rosa Parks had their own homes bombed.  Furthermore, the city in some other ways reinforced segregation and Rosa Parks ultimately had to leave the city due to death threats.  By the early 60′s blacks were still de-facto having to ride in the back of buses even if the law didn’t require it.  However, King’s resolve to undertake the cause of Civil Rights was not undone and only increased as a result of these setbacks.

1957 saw King along with other ministers form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).  King was to lead this organization until his death and it would become central in the subsequent Civil Rights movement.  He befriended white evangelist preacher, Billy Graham and took inspiration from Graham’s evangelical “crusades”.  King sought to use the SCLC to push forth a message of nonviolent protest in the service of advancing African-American Civil Rights.  King was further inspired by the success of India’s independence movement and its commitment to nonviolence, namely through its spiritual leader, Mahatma Gandhi, he even later visited India to seek inspiration from this source..  King began giving sermons and placing them in written form to push this message of nonviolence coupled with advancement of Civil Rights.  Gradually, his sermons namely “What is Man?” caught the attention of the nation and the world at large.  King began to take on many individual cases as ways to highlight the need for changes to legislation in federal law to overcome Jim Crow’s legal power.

King continued to make speeches and organize marches in the coming years, he was notably involved in the Albany movement to desegregate Albany, Georgia in 1961 and famously the Birmingham, Alabama and Selma, Alabama campaigns of 1963 and 1964 to desegregate and assist in gaining African-Americans their legal voting rights.  During this time, King and other black leadership in the country tried to work with then newly elected President John F. Kennedy to author what many called a “Second Emancipation Proclamation” in reference to Abraham Lincoln’s 1862 Executive Order declaring slaves in Confederate states freed during the Civil War.  Kennedy for his part appeared sympathetic if not particularly activist on the issue of Civil Rights.  King was also during this time the focus of FBI surveillance under the direction of then US Attorney General Robert Kennedy, President Kennedy’s brother.  King’s movements were detailed and phone calls wiretapped.  He also was sent threatening letters, not officially from the government but later linked to.  The supposed motive for monitoring King was his association with known and suspected Communists who maybe using the Civil Rights movement as a front for pushing forth Communist agendas in the middle of the Cold War which the the government saw as undermining America’s domestic and foreign policy, namely his association with the former Communist and openly homosexual Bayard Rustin was problematic and King agreed to distance himself from Rustin publicly.  King continued to earn a reputation as man of overall conviction notably following his arrests for violating the laws of Birmingham, Alabama during the 1963 desegregation campaign there.  His famous Letter from Birmingham Jail written on April 16, 1963 showed this commitment in eloquent form, something that was to become a signature of King’s persona.  King felt his acts of civil disobedience and that of the nonviolent Civil Rights movement were in accordance with American ideals, namely the Boston Tea Party and other acts of the American Revolution.  Citing them as necessary acts to deliver freedom even if they were illegal in the eyes of unjust laws.  King also demonstrated a belief in racial unity, stating that failure to come together against Jim Crow laws would not only legally segregate white and black Americans but lead to national disharmony and permanent segregation of Americans on communal and national lines.

King’s perhaps most memorable moment came on August 28, 1963 in the now famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.  Here King in the shadows of the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument in Washington DC gave what many regard as not only his most eloquent and passionate speech but one of America’s most eloquent oratories ever, the so called “I Have a Dream Speech” where King lashed out at racism and the injustice that Americans experienced solely for the color of their skin.  The speech not only listed the grievances of African-American community but envisioned optimistically that America would one day live up to its founding and often espoused ideals of a welcoming community and freedom of individuality.  As a place that transcended racial bigotry where notably he stated:

“ I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.”

The speech and march had massive press coverage and helped put the Civil Rights movement near the top of the legislative agenda.  In November of 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas but his successor Lyndon B. Johnson continued with Kennedy’s hope of passing new legislation.  The Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 essentially in law achieved the effective end of much of Jim Crow laws throughout the American South and in someways achieved what many considered the high watermark of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960′s.  Though these laws initially had weak enforcement, they were great symbolic victories for the movement and subsequently would practically reinforced through subsequent laws being passed.  King however knew work was still to be done, poverty among African-Americans and racial discrimination were still in effect going into the mid and late 1960′s and King made these ongoing issues of importance in his mission.  He also began to gradually speak out against the war in Vietnam which was ongoing.  His arguments against the war were largely that it took an unfair burden on impoverished black soldiers who signed up to help their country and saw them disproportionately killed in action and their communities suffering economic hardship.  His criticism of the war earned him the ire of President Johnson who was overseeing its ongoing development and ramping up.  It also cost some support for him among union organizers and the press he was even called by some a “demagogue” .  King additionally was facing ongoing death threats from white racists at home such as the Ku Klux Klan and facing criticism from black nationalists, notably the Nation of Islam, both white and black nationalists refused to believe in racial integration and harmony and actively sought to segregate America and Americans.

Despite King’s many struggles and in many ways the deepening political divides in the country, King stayed steadfast committed to the cause of nonviolence. 1968 saw King take up the cause of African-American sanitation workers’ rights for better pay and working conditions in Memphis, Tennessee.  On April 3, 1968 he gave what would be his final speech, the so called “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” address.  In reference to a recent bomb threat it was laced with almost prophetic language:

“And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

At 6:01 PM on April 4, 1968 as King was standing out on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis discussing plans for a event later that night he was struck with a single bullet in the right cheek fired from across the street at a boarding house.  The bullet hit King in the cheek and lodged in his spinal cord.  He was dead within the hour, aged 39.  King’s assassin turned out to be James Earl Ray, a white supremacist with a history of crime.  Ray fled the country and was later arrested in England on a false passport, he was returned the US for trial and convicted of King’s murder.  In time, controversy over whether Ray was actually the assassin or whether it was part of a US government conspiracy to silence King for his ongoing activism against US foreign policy and advocacy for positions viewed as undermining domestic policy by some has arisen.  There are numerous conspiracy theories abounded to this day, even at least one of King’s children forgave Ray and came to believe he was not guilty.  Ray for his part changed his story to say he was coerced into confessing to the murder.  A civil case later found a conspiracy against King to have been acted upon, though the official criminal record remains unchanged stating Ray was the assassin and acted alone, motivated by his personal enmity towards King and African-Americans, he would eventually die in prison in 1998 of liver failure.

In the immediate aftermath of the King’s death many riots among the African-American community broke out across the country.  A notable exception was in Indianapolis, Indiana where former Attorney General and then US Senator from New York Robert F. Kennedy gave a speech to the African-American community on the back of a flat bed truck.  Kennedy was running for the Democratic nomination for President that year.  The very man who once authorized King’s FBI surveillance was now delivering an impromptu eulogy on his behalf.  Kennedy appealed to the crowd, stating any feelings of anger they may have was understandable but he also appealed to them with empathy through the assassination of his own brother, President Kennedy 5 years earlier.  Kennedy’s speech ultimately called for African-Americans to make the choice, seek peace, nonviolence and continue to push for a unified country as King had advocated for or give into intense feelings of rage and turn to violence.  The crowd though upset largely listened to Kennedy and no riots took place in Indianapolis that night.  Robert Kennedy for his part was assassinated by a Palestinian gunman two months later in California, citing his hatred over Kennedy’s support for the state of Israel in the wake of the Six Days War of 1967 as motivation.

King’s legacy of nonviolence and advocacy for Civil Rights was continued by many afterwards and taken in many directions henceforth.  Namely, his wife Coretta and later their children, Coretta would die in 2006 and his buried next to husband at their home in Atlanta, Georgia.  In the year’s since King’s death, he has been made into an icon for civil rights movements the world over.  People of various political persuasions and movements have co-opted his words to fit their perception of his take on their cause.  It’s ultimately speculation as to what King would have gone on to do and how he would view the world and his country in particular in the modern era.  King’s legacy overall remains strong in America’s memory even if it is viewed by some as out of touch or overly optimistic.  His memory is celebrated in part with Martin Luther King Jr. day held annually in the US on the third Monday in January.  This is celebrated as federal holiday as well as at the state and local level, signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1983 and first observed federally in January 1986.  All 50 states now honor it as a paid holiday for state workers, with South Carolina being the last to do so in 2000.

Whatever King could have gone onto to do and despite the various attempts to co-opt his name, words and legacy to various movements the world over.  I think one undeniable aspect his memory does retain and should retain is the symbolism and idealism his eloquent words held.  The hope for racial equality before the law and in social order within the United States and elsewhere is cause worth believing in and striving for, especially with a commitment to nonviolence.  In America in this day and age there is a temptation to look at its history as solely one of imperialism, violence, subjugation and supremacy, namely in the form of white supremacy.  There is another tendency to view America as having these unfortunate and terrible stains on its legacy but that the promise of American ideals of individual freedom were fundamentally good and sound ideas at their core.  Really, this discussion of two opposing views of America was an issue in King’s time and remains unresolved and in some ways is the central debate in the present American body politic.  Anybody in the present is guilty of co-opting King’s views to support their own just as much as anyone else, myself included.  Without going into much detail on my own views on the matter which for the purposes of a highlighted biography blog post aren’t particularly relevant.  I do think King’s life and his words are at the very least worth truly reflecting upon with serious and deep study if one is looking to see his own view of America in all its complexity and not just clipping a few phrases out of context for one’s benefit.   At the very least it’s what one can do to honor King and his legacy, unquestionably being given to nonviolence in search of domestic political change but also really assessing what was at the core of his beliefs and hopes for America too.

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wicomico-community-leader-victor-laws-jr-passes-away

SALISBURY, Md.– Victor H. Laws, Jr., a longtime lawyer and community leader in Wicomico County, died at Wicomico Nursing Home on Sunday, Feb. 12 after a lengthy illness. He was 97.

The following information about Laws’ life comes from his obituary:

Laws was born on May 8, 1919, to Victor H. Laws Sr. and Maud Truitt Laws of Wango, a small farming community in southeastern Wicomico County. Mr. Laws published a book in 1990, “Maud and Other Family Legends,” about his parents’ generation and life in rural Wicomico County in days gone by.

Long active in local law practice, business and politics, he began his education at the one-room Wango elementary school, then graduated from Wicomico High School in 1935, attended Salisbury State Teachers College (now Salisbury University) for two years and transferred to University of Maryland at College Park, and its School of Law, receiving two degrees, an A.B. in 1939 and an Ll.B. in 1941.

After admission to the Maryland Bar, Laws first practiced in Salisbury in 1941-42 with the firm of Miles, Bailey & Clark and in Baltimore in 1942 with the firm of Miles & O’Brien. After three years of service in World War II, 1942-45, with the Army Signal Corps, including service in England and France, he returned to Miles & O’Brien (now Miles & Stockbridge) from 1945-57 as an associate and later partner, then in 1957 moved back to Salisbury where he practiced in association with several Salisbury lawyers including E. Dale Adkins, Jr., Charles J. Potts, John William Long, Hobart Hughes, George Bahen, John B. Long II, and Russell C. Dashiell, Jr. In 1984, Mr. Laws formed the law firm of Laws & Laws, P.A. with his son Victor and daughter-in-law Jean as his partners and continued in that practice (now known as Laws, Insley & Benson, P.A.) until his retirement in 2011 after more than 65 years of practice.

Laws was vice-president of the Maryland State Bar Association and president of the Wicomico County Bar Association and a member of the American Bar Association. In 1983 he was appointed by the Court of Appeals of Maryland as a trustee of the Clients’ Security Trust Fund (now known as the Client Protection Fund), a state-wide agency funded by assessments on all Maryland lawyers that provides reimbursement to clients who are defrauded by their lawyers. He became chairman of the fund in 1986 and served in that capacity until 1999. During his 16 years of service, the fund’s assets and caseload increased substantially. Fund trustees, including the chairman, serve without pay.

In local politics,Laws was appointed city solicitor of Salisbury by Mayor Boyd E. McLernon in 1960 and re-appointed in 1962 by Mayor Frank Morris, serving until 1966. He was first elected to public office in 1962 as a member of the Wicomico County Democratic State Central Committee, serving as its chairman until 1966. In 1974 he was elected to the Wicomico County Council, was re-elected in 1978 and 1982, retired in 1986 and again was elected to the council in 1990, serving a total of 16 years, including terms as its vice-president and president.

He was the first council member to propose an annual county appropriation to benefit volunteer fire companies to help them buy fire-fighting equipment. Mr. Laws was an early and consistent advocate of amending the county charter to establish a county executive form of government, which was finally approved by the voters in 2004 and began to function in December 2006.

During a rare hiatus from county government, Laws helped to mediate an impasse between the Circuit Court and County Council over how to expand or remodel the old Wicomico County Courthouse, which dates from 1878. The ad hoc committee’s work led to the construction of the new Wicomico County Courts Building in use today.

Laws has been generous to the University of Maryland School of Law, supporting its annual fundraising efforts and also providing a gift that funded facilities for the law school’s Legal Clinic. In recent years, he made major gifts to Wor-Wic Community College, the Salvation Army’s West Salisbury Richard Hazel Youth Club, the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore and Peninsula Regional Medical Center.

Laws was recognized for his leadership in local government and the legal community, receiving the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce Award in 2003. He also was honored by the Salisbury Advisory Council on Youth Activities. In 2011, the Maryland Bar Foundation bestowed on Mr. Laws its Legal Excellence Award for the Advancement of Public Service Responsibility.

Laws was involved, personally or professionally, in several real estate projects that changed the local landscape. These included the development of the Giant Food and Montgomery Ward shopping centers, and downtown Salisbury office buildings and the Waverly Plaza Shopping Center, including the former Royal Exchange Pub Restaurant, with his cousin Richard M. Laws as his partner. With partners and clients such as Oscar Carey and Jim English, Laws helped create several Ocean City condominium high-rises. With other partners he developed the Riverside Pines subdivision and the Ocean Resorts Golf Course, and started the reclamation of an industrial site that became the Village Down River residential development.

On the occasion of his 90th birthday on May 8, 2009, he hosted a large celebration party at the Wicomico County Youth & Civic Center. Attendees included the Honorable Robert M. Bell, the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, and numerous other local judges, lawyers, politicians, clients, relatives and friends. Mr. Laws was a longtime member, trustee, treasurer and deacon of the Salisbury Old School Baptist Church where he supervised several repair and renovation projects. But by 2006, the membership of the church had declined and its location at Baptist Street and Route 50 was congested and suffered from a lack of access and parking. He then led the effort to sell the Salisbury church property, merge its membership with Forest Grove Old School Baptist Church near Parsonsburg, and modernize the Forest Grove church by adding an accessible entrance, spacious kitchen and dining area, and parking lot.

Laws was a member or former member of several local clubs, including Elks Lodge #817, Rotary Club of Salisbury, Ocean City Golf and Yacht Club, Green Hill Yacht & Country Club, and the Seagull Club at Salisbury University. In addition to golf, his hobbies were reading, writing, and foreign and cruise travel. He enjoyed ballroom dancing with both wives as a member of the Laurel and Salisbury Cotillions.

Friends may call at Holloway Funeral Home between 6 and 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17. On Saturday, Feb. 18, services will be held at 3 p.m., with visitation beginning at 2 p.m., at the Forest Grove-Salisbury Old School Baptist Church, 6562 Forest Grove Road, Parsonsburg, with Elder Elbert M. Robbins officiating. Burial at the Laws Family Cemetery in Wango will be private.

Contributions may be made to the Forest Grove-Salisbury Old School Baptist Church, c/o Jean Leonard, 29140 Waller Rd., Delmar, MD 21875 or to a charity of your choice.

Arrangements are in the care of Holloway Funeral Home, P.A., 501 Snow Hill Road, Salisbury, MD 21804. To send condolences to the family, visit www.hollowayfh.com.