Pa. Amtrak route declared part of Underground Railroad

By Tom Knapp, Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era LANCASTER, Pa. — The national network of Underground Railroad sites has lacked an actual railroad — until now. A portion of Amtrak's Keystone Corridor, which stretches from Lancaster to Philadelphia, has just made the list. The National Park Service announced this month that the busy 70-mile-long stretch of rail, formerly the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad, has been recognized for the role it played when slaves fleeing Southern states hid in specially designed boxcars en route to Philadelphia. It has been designated an official site on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. "It's a major, newly recognized layer of history that Lancaster County should be very proud of and should begin promoting, along with Amtrak," historian Randy Harris said Monday. Harris was hired last fall by the Pennsylvania Tourism Office, through the PA Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau, to prepare the application, citing activity there from the 1830s up through the Civil War. The National Park Service, which oversees the Network to Freedom, approved the application in August. "It's a really wonderful story that needs to be further documented, not only in Columbia but along the stretch to Philadelphia and the towns along the line," Harris said. The Underground Railroad, some historians believe, had little to do with actual railroads or underground places. Harris disagrees. "It's true in 90% of the locations where Underground Railroad activities occurred," he said. "But it started here. And here it was about railroads. It was about underground places. It was about Quakers helping African-Americans." Anecdotal evidence indicates the term "Underground Railroad" had its genesis in Lancaster County, Harris said. Columbia, with a large population of free black citizens dating back at least to 1820, was the epicenter of "Underground Zero," an area including York and Lancaster counties and the Susquehanna River, he said. The Chesapeake Bay and the river acted as a funnel for fugitive slaves moving north, he said, and many ended up in Columbia, where they could blend with the population. "There was this big sweep of migration. Everyone wanted to get to Philadelphia," Harris said. William Whipper and Steven Smith, both successful African-American businessmen who had been raised in slavery, helped it happen. The men, who regularly shipped lumber from Columbia to Philadelphia, built special boxcars with false ends to conceal fugitive slaves, Harris said. "It was large enough for someone to stand at one end of the boxcar and not be seen," he said. "We don't have any of the details — how many of these boxcars were built, what the dimensions were or anything like that," Harris said. "We don't know how many people they held. It sounds pretty uncomfortable, but getting to Philadelphia and freedom was probably more important than being uncomfortable for the 8 to 10 hours it took to get there." Although the boxcars were privately owned, Harris said, the collusion of the state-owned railroad and its employees is clear. "Obviously, a great many state employees, if not actively involved, would at least turn the other way to let these people get aboard," he said. Although state law required inspectors to check cars for fugitives, none of Whipper and Smith's "special passengers" was ever detected, Harris said. Harris noted that the designation covers Amtrak's Keystone line only between Lancaster and Philadelphia. The remaining 10-mile segment, between Lancaster and Columbia, is owned by Norfolk Southern, which "has chosen not to consent to apply for participation in the Network to Freedom at this time," according to application documents. Now that the federal government has acknowledged the railroad's role, Harris envisions train conductors sharing the story with passengers along the Keystone line. There is a potential, he said, for federal funds to be used in further research, promotion and presentation of the tale. "It's up to the designated party to put the best foot forward and tell that story," Harris said. "This entire railroad line is just dotted with resources." Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Find this article at: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2010-10-30-philadelphia-amtrak-route-underground-railroad_N.htm

Writer Maya Angelou regales audience with her love of books, childhood, friends

By Ula Ilnytzky (CP) – 3 hours ago

NEW YORK, N.Y. — In her low husky voice, Maya Angelou came out singing about her love of books and libraries in an African American rendition about a rainbow.

"God put the rainbow in the clouds ... so the viewer can see the possibility of hope. That's what a library is," said the 82-year-old poet, author, and dramatist as she finished the song based on Genesis.

Friday's occasion marked the official announcement by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem of its acquisition of some 340 boxes of her personal papers. The centre is part of the New York Public Library.

The 6-foot-tall author of "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" walked with difficulty on stage. But once seated, she regaled the audience with reminiscences of her Arkansas childhood and friendships with such 20th century powerhouses as novelist James Baldwin and civil rights activist Malcolm X.

Angelou said she was 8 years old and a "voluntary mute" after she was raped at age 7 when a teacher at her all-black school showed her the library and said, "I want you to read every book in this room." She did — all 200-300 of them.

"No bad can happen to you in the library. You can't be raped or mugged in a library. You can't be talked down to, belittled, humiliated in the library," she said. "As soon as I'm in a library, I'm OK."

The first time she entered the grand New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue with its sweeping staircase and rooms where she could "read what happened in China in the 4th century," she was bowled over, she told The Associated Press in an interview earlier this week.

"It still makes me weak in the knees to think that I can go into any library in the world and nobody can keep me out," she told the AP.

The decision to house her papers at the Schomburg — the world's largest repository of material on people of African descent — was "so easy," said Angelou, who's donated other material there over the years, including a collection of letters from Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass.

As the Schomburg's national membership chair, she's raised $7 million, said library Director Howard Dodson.

Angelou recalled for the audience how the books at her Arkansas elementary school, which were donated by whites, were often coverless and tattered. But by the time she and her classmates were done with them, decorating them with cotton and pretty cloth, "the books were so beautiful," she said.

She recounted how an English friend whose father was a famous Communist and friend of Paul Robeson gave her tapes of the actor-singer in concert supposedly in Hungary, knowing how much she loved African Americana.

Angelou said she couldn't get anyone in her home state of North Carolina to transfer the tapes into film so she turned to Dodson. It was Dodson, she said, who discovered that the concert was not in Hungary at all but taped at a church in New Jersey after Robeson's passport was revoked for his political views in the 1950s. The tapes were then smuggled out of the country, she said.

Angelou also recalled an incident involving Baldwin.

In her famous storytelling style, she said the "Native Son" author, who was all of 5-foot-5-inches "in wedges," came to her rescue after taking her to "a joint" that reeked of "Lysol and urine." He had briefly left her alone at the bar and returned to find a burly man pestering her.

She said Baldwin came right in between her and the man and said: "You've been taking care of her for me? You're dismissed now," and then added an expletive that Angelou repeated for the audience, which roared with laughter.

Angelou has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her "Give Me A Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie," written 31 books and penned a poem for Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration. Her newest book, out in December, is "Good Food, All Day Long: Cook Splendidly, East Smart," a cookbook filled with autobiographical sketches of how the recipes came to be.

In the interview with the AP from her home in Winston-Salem, N.C., she said selecting the most relevant papers from her private collection was "a little like who's the most important of your children."

But she's glad to be parting with the material.

"Friends of mine are dying with such rapidity that it's heart breaking," she said. "I said, 'Let me take care of this now 'cause you can't look around the corner.' I hope it's not a signal that I'm about to leave, but in case I am, I want my papers at the Schomburg."

___

Online:

http://www.nypl.org

New York City faces huge racial disparities in unemployment

International Business Times

Friday, October 29, 2010 7:55 AM EDT

New York City faces huge racial disparities in unemployment

By IB Times Staff Reporter

Unemployment rate among African-American and Hispanic people in New York City (NYC) is three times higher than their white counterparts, reflecting huge racial and ethnic disparities in unemployment in the city, according to a report by the NYC Comptroller.

"What may be news to some is sadly the reality for too many. As clear as day, the unemployment problem in New York City is one that disproportionately impacts people of color,” said John C. Liu , NYC Comptroller on Thursday.

The report said though the city’s unemployment rate declined over the past six months, certain segments of the population are more affected by the crisis.

“The persistent disparities in unemployment are totally unacceptable and must be eradicated,” Liu said.

The unemployment rate for African-American New Yorkers for the third quarter of 2010 was 15.3 percent, compared with 5.2 percent among white counterparts.

Hispanic jobless rate was 13.3 percent during the same quarter. Their unemployment rate stood at 7.2 percent by the end of the third quarter of 2008.

However, the report found more than 189,000 New Yorkers remained jobless for more than six months, 96,000 for more than a year, and 62,000 for more than 18 months.

“This is a possible indication that the economic recovery is in danger of stalling out, or at best, that high unemployment rates will continue to persist for an extended period of time,” the report said.

The city’s unemployment rate dropped to 9.3 percent in September from 9.5 percent in August, according to a data from State Labor Department. It stood well below the nation’s rate of 9.6 percent.

Bishop Long talks sex from the pulpit - And you won't believe what he said...

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Bishop Eddie Long preaches about bringing "fresh sperm" to his congregation
• "Sperm" sermon is one of many he's given on controversial subjects through the years
• Long's beliefs under scrutiny since he became center of scandal
• Four young men accuse Long of "sexual coercion" in lawsuits

(CNN) -- Bishop Eddie Long, his face glistening with sweat, paces onstage before his cheering congregation.

He's preaching about the Bible, the role of a preacher, and "fresh sperm."

"The word of God is potent. The word of God is His sperm," Long thunders. "The job of the preacher is to bring fresh sperm and when he speaks it, the womb -- the church -- is to take it in and say, 'Sho' you're right.' "

The video of that sermon, delivered during the early days of Long's ministry in the 1990s, has gone viral. And now it is being discussed in the context of four lawsuits that claim the 57-year-old Long used his spiritual authority to coerce four young men into sexual relationships with him.

Long has denied the allegations, characterizing them as assaults against him and New Birth Missionary Church, his 25,000 member megachurch in suburban Atlanta, Georgia.

Since his denial, Long has stopped talking publicly about the allegations. Yet debate about the scandal persists. Many people are trying to figure out: Who is Long? And what are his beliefs?

Long has already provided some of those answers, in his sermons and books. For the last three decades, he has publicly preached and written about some of the same issues raised in the lawsuits: homosexuality, his relationship with men, and his style of leadership at New Birth.

Art Franklin, a New Birth spokesman, did not return calls requesting an interview with Long.

In earlier sermons and books, though, Long has been open about his stance on an array of controversial topics.

Long explains why some boys are gay

Men can look attractive when they're dirty.
--Bishop Eddie Long

Take Long's opposition to homosexuality. It's been a part of his message for years. In his 1998 book, "I Don't Want Delilah, I Need You!" he wrote that "The Bible has no provision for two people of the same sex to be married."

"Two people of the same sex cannot reproduce in the physical natural realm, which is an outward manifestation of their inability to produce the fruit of righteousness in the spirit realm."

In the same book, Long wrote that the devil convinces homosexuals that they have no control over their sexual orientation.

"Neither does God make a person to be a homosexual. Look at yourself naked in a mirror and see what God gave you. That's who you are in God's creation. Your parents ... or someone else may have influenced you to engage in sexual behavior that was not godly, but God did not ordain that behavior for you."

Long's explanation for why some men are gay, though, may appear puzzling.

He put some of the blame on women, in "I Don't Want Delilah, I Need You!"

"In a society, where little boys are exposed to grubby, cursing, dirty, cigarette-smoking road construction worker women, is it any wonder they stop chasing women and start chasing men?"

The proper role for men and women is a recurrent theme in Long's books and sermons.

Video: Bishop Eddie Long speaks to church

Video: Accuser's message for Bishop Long

Video: Bishop Long and loyalty

Men, he said, are different than women because they are made from the dirt. God, he said, made Adam from the dust of the earth.

"Men can look attractive when they're dirty," he wrote in "I Don't Want Delilah, I Need You!"

"We see sweating, dirty, hardworking men on television all the time and we say to one another, 'There's a macho guy.' But women were not made from the earth. God made women to be lovely, gentle, clean and beautiful on the inside and outside. They are to be strong in character."

Why Long drove two Bentleys

Men, Long said, were created to be "warriors" who lead and protect their families. Yet there are forces in society that "damage" men, Long wrote in his 2004 book, "Gladiator."

"Somebody took the man out of manhood," he wrote in "Gladiator."

That somebody? He blames the "women's liberation" movement and "liberal and extra-biblical teaching" in public schools.

"The anti-man agenda of such organizations as NOW [National Organization of Women] ... spawned in the previous century is simple: being 'equal' isn't enough -- we want to be large and in charge."

At other times, though, Long has offered a spirited defense of women's role in the church.

Unlike some conservative pastors, he wrote that women have a right to preach and be leaders in the church. Long encourages men to treat their wives with respect and to remain faithful.

In one sermon, Long cited his own marriage to encourage parishioners. He invited his wife, Vanessa, to share the stage with him in a 2009 DVD entitled, "When a Man Loves a Woman."

Vanessa Long, who has appeared at Long's side since the allegations against him were made public, talked about the challenges of living with her husband to a rapt New Birth congregation.

Long took the New Birth pulpit in a 2004 DVD, "Back to Basics," to talk about the male ego. In the video, he tells the audience he wouldn't have a problem if his wife made more money because it's still "my money" as head of the household.

As members in the congregation chuckle, Long tells them that he would be happy to pick up his wife on payday, and deposit her check into their joint banking account.

"I might even give her a little bit -- and I wasn't talking money," Long says as his congregation hoots in laughter.

The job of a preacher is to bring fresh sperm...
--Bishop Eddie Long

RELATED TOPICS

• Christianity
• New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Inc.

Long's stance on money has also drawn scrutiny. He's a "prosperity preacher" who once said that Jesus wasn't poor.

A 2005 article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says Long created a charity whose biggest beneficiary was Long himself. The charity, ostensibly to help the poor, provided Long with the use of a million-dollar home and a $350,000 Bentley car.

In his 2002 book, "What a Man Wants, What a Woman Needs," Long says his luxury cars are "side benefits of saying yes to God."

Money isn't evil; the love of money is evil, he says in the book. Pastors need to show people "visual sermons" to demonstrate that God is blessing them, he says.

"It's strange but when a preacher gets a Bentley, people get mad," he says in the book. "That's why I have two of them. God has launched me into my culture like an arrow and I'll go to almost any lengths to plant the kingdom in the hoods."

Why parishioners should respect authority

The Kingdom of God, according to Long, is held together by authority, another favorite topic.

"Taking Authority" is the name of a Long television show that once aired on Trinity Broadcasting Network. In his 1999 book, "Taking Over," Long wrote about taking authority at New Birth during his early days by persuading the deacon board to relinquish power to him.

In Long's view, there is a "chain of command" in God's creation: children must answer to their parents; wives to their spouses, and parishioners to their pastor.

Some pastors encourage parishioners to address them by their first name or to view them like anyone else. That is not Long's style of leadership.

In his recent book "Gladiator," Long warns parishioners not to get overly familiar with a pastor who has God's "anointing."

"Some people get close to the pastor, and then they stand back by describing the pastor as just a man or just Eddie," Long writes. "It is true to a point, but it is a statement dipped in scorn for God's anointed."

Scorn can easily turn to disrespect when parishioners start looking at their pastors critically, Long says in the book.

"A disrespectful or adversarial attitude causes otherwise good people to look for mistakes, weakness, and flaws in their human leaders."

In the book, Long even warns those who might look for flaws in their pastor:

People who disrespect their leaders not only disobey God, they bring harm onto themselves, he says.

"Once the flock of God leaves the green grass and clear water of God's presence to gnaw on their shepherds," he writes, "their insurrection kills their blessing and aborts their corporate victory."

Another African American Gay Male Commits Suicide

ChicagoNow

Lenox Magee on 10.29.10 at 11:05 AM | 

Lenox Magee

Lenox Magee is a freelance journalist and blogger in the Chicagoland area.

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Joseph Jefferson's chilling last words, shared on Facebook with his friends, were: "I could not bear the burden of living as a gay man of color in a world grown cold and hateful towards those of us who live and love differently than the so-called 'social mainstream.' Belonging is one of the basic human needs, when people feel isolated and excluded from a sense of communion with others, they suffer....I have been an advocate for my peers and most importantly youth because most have never had a deep emotional attachment to anyone. They don't know how to love and be loved in return. The need to be loved can sometimes translate to the need to belong to someone or something. Driven by that need..... Most will do anything to belong."

The 26-year-old New Yorker from Brooklyn who graduated from Harvey Milk High in 2002, worked at Gay Men of African Descent on HIV prevention, and was described as an "advocate for LGBT youth" -- hanged himself  on Saturday. By most accounts, Jefferson was a true LGBT youth pioneer. More recently, Joseph Jefferson was said to be an assistant to Laurence Pinckney and James Saunders, New York City's popular Black LGBT event promoters. Jefferson was also active in New York City's colorful ballroom community.

It's still unclear as to the exact circumstances behind Joseph's suicide, but, what is clear is that he felt alot of internal pain. The thought of even thinking that "another one" could happen any day now, freaks me out.  After learning of Joseph's death, I had to take a walk.  I didn't know Joesph personally but it really affected me emotionally. I couldn't wrap my head around someone hanging themselves - it's such a gruesome way to die. I kept telling myself, 'another one...why another one?' And, I still don't understand why people are giving up when the world is changing, slowly, but changing. I'm beginning to feel helpless and think the word isn't get out to gay youth that IT WILL GET BETTER! I'm really hoping with Dan Savage's "It Gets Better" campaign, teens and adults will see the light and change their thoughts about committing suicide.

Jefferson marks the third young gay black man or woman to kill him or herself this month.

Aiyisha Hassan and Raymond Chase, both 19 years old, also killed themselves in recent weeks. Raymond Chase was openly gay at Johnson & Wales University in Providence when hehanged himself in his dorm room on September 29.

I'm desperately praying that the world gets better and we begin recognizing the signs before it's too late.

Read more: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/lenox-second-city/2010/10/another-african-american-gay-male-commits-suicide.html#ixzz13nSuDeZL