Salvation History: "Follow the Drinking Gourd"

[Tonight at University Lutheran Chapel in Berkeley, I'll be telling one of the Easter Vigil stories. The part I'll be doing is about the salvation story in Exodus, and the specific text is Exodus 4, about the way an "unexpected leader" -- Moses -- was encouraged to act. I adapted the text to tell the story in terms of the way leaders came forward against slavery in the US . . . . ]


In 1849, Harriet Tubman was a 27 year old slave in the state of Maryland - on the Eastern Shore, in the area just south of the Choptank River.

We now know a little bit about what Harriet was going through in that year, and the most important thing is that she had come to a conclusion: "There's one of two things I have a right to. One is liberty; the other is death."

The only question in Harriet's mind was -- which was it gonna be?

We don't know what went on in Harriet's mind in those days when she was still a slave.  In my imagination, it was something like this . . . .

"Flying Geese" quilt pattern

As 27-year-old Harriet Tubman stood pondering one day, hanging out the old quilts that she had been washing, and lost in thought, she hummed a song.  [She hums "Follow the Drinking Gourd"]

An old man who worked on the farm, not a slave, but a hired hand, and a friend she could trust, came along. "Harriet, what are you so lost in thought about?" he said.

"Joe," she said, "I don't know what to do. I think I've gotta make a break for it. But I don't know if I can do it. I mean -- if God was gonna lead me to freedom, like His people he took out of Egypt, there'd be some, I don't know, some signs, or miracles, or . . . ."

"From the way you're talkin', sounds like you've gotten your first sign already," he said.

"North Star" quilt pattern

"Joe, I wouldn't even know how to start."

"Harriet," said Joe, "what's that I heard you humming?"

"Oh," she said, "it's just that old song you taught me, the one whose words don't make any sense."

"How does it go?" said Joe.

[SHE SINGS -- "Follow the drinking gourd, Follow the drinking gourd, for the old man's waiting for to carry you to freedom, follow the drinking gourd."]

"I think you've been carrying around what you need with you all along," said Joe. "The drinking gourd is the Big Dipper, and it points the way north."

[SHE SINGS AGAIN -- "Follow the drinking gourd, Follow the drinking gourd, for the old man's waiting for to carry you to freedom, follow the drinking gourd."]

She looked at Joe.  "I don't know," she said. "How will I survive? I won't even make it through one night . . . . "

"What's that you're hanging up?" he said.

"Just an old quilt - just a jumble of old pieces of cloth."

"Remember to take it with you. That jumble of old pieces of cloth will keep you warm at night."

"Joe," she said, "the worst part of it is: what about my family? How can I go without them?"

"Log Cabin" quilt pattern

"You won't be going without them," said Joe. "You'll be going AHEAD of them. There's a difference. Your real job is learn the way, and then come lead them to freedom."

"All by myself??" she said.

Joe reassured her: "How does that song go again?"

[SHE SINGS AGAIN -- "Follow the drinking gourd, Follow the drinking gourd, for the old man's waiting for to carry you to freedom, follow the drinking gourd."]

"So get going. I'll be right there with you."

"Alright, Joe, alright." (resigned)

"I'll meet you in the morning," she intoned, "I'm bound for the promised land."


Harriet Tubman escaped to Pennsylvania. She returned to Maryland to help others escape, and over the years she led so many individuals from slavery that people gave her a special nickname. Her nickname was "Moses."


You can read about Harriet Tubman on Wikipedia to see the origin of some of the references in the imagined conversation above.



Listen to Richie Havens sing "Follow the Drinking Gourd":

I first learned about the drinking gourd song when I read and performed the picture book version of "Follow the Drinking Gourd" (with story and pictures by Jeannette Winter) over 20 years ago for my son's first grade class.  Here's a reading of the Winter's book:

 
And here's an adaptation of "Follow the Drinking Gourd" that's unforgettable - The Ishmel Sisters, arranged by Darnell Ishmel, with poetry by George L. Davis, II:

The quilt designs that accompany this post are so-called "Underground Railroad" quilt patches. There is abundant information about the patches on the Internet, though historians have come to doubt their authenticity. I have included them to remind us that secret communications systems, to the degree they existed, were by their very nature obscure and hard for outsiders to decipher. There is so much to this story: we need to open ourselves to possibilities and imagination and myth in order to continue to grasp further aspects of it.




Related posts

What would Christians think if someone proposed carving out a slice of their Sunday services to worship the God of Entombment? Wouldn't they think that was absurd? After all, if Christianity is anything, isn't it the religion of "UN-entombment"?

(See When is Christianity Going Back to Being the Religion of "UN-entombment"?)


For the next three months, people will be talking about the film 12 Years a Slave and its Oscar prospects. And well they should. The film is about the experiences of the free man, Solomon Northrup, who was seized and enslaved for twelve years, and it may be the best thing ever to come along for enabling us to confront the true meaning of our history of oppression and racism in America. But it's not just about history. 

(See 12 Years a Detainee)


I think they are sending a message to their adherents: "We're in a struggle. Not everyone is with us -- yet. But we know what we stand for. And we're not alone!"

(See Shen Yun: Performance Posters as Resistance Art )

The Revelations of "Beneath the Blindfold"

"Beneath the Blindfold" is a film about torture survivors. It is an important film, and I encourage everyone to look for an opportunity to see the film as soon as possible, and to share it with others in their community. This is especially important in light of the recent unanimous vote in Chicago City Council to make Chicago a torture-free city and the opportunity it provides to advance an anti-torture platform to many, many other places.

Much will be written about "Beneath the Blindfold." Below is a quick sketch of several elements of the film that were particularly revelatory to me.


SENSORY DEPRIVATION
A critical part of "Beneath the Blindfold" is the information it provides about sensory deprivation and how it constitutes torture.

I have only recently confronted the truth that solitary confinement -- so widely practiced in the United States -- constitutes a form of torture.

In the hearings on the resolution to make Chicago a torture free city, there was ample first-hand testimony about the fact that "solitary confinement" is a misnomer -- that what is really being practiced is sensory deprivation, and that the result is to destroy minds and bodies.

In fact, for those who have been paying attention, the truth about solitary confinement/sensory deprivation has already begun to intrude into mainstream culture. See, for instance Atul Gawande, Hellholes, in The New Yorker - "The United States holds tens of thousands of inmates in long-term solitary confinement. Is this torture?"

"Beneath the Blindfold" provides additional information about the effects of sensory deprivation. In particular, I was struck by the information provided in the film about how the effects of sensory deprivation have been well-known since the '50s -- particularly as a result of the "Hebb experiments". Under the circumstances, the terrible impact of sensory deprivaiton on prisoners can only be intentional. As one speaker summarized those experiments, "It became clear that within 48 hours of sensory deprivation, the mind starts to break down."

TRAUMA
One common thread among the torture survivors profiled in "Beneath the Blindfold" is the continuing trauma of those who have experienced torture. It is perhaps the signal achievement of the film that it portrays four different survivors, each of whose experience of torture was distinct from that of any of the others, and each of whom has an otherwise unique personality, and yet each makes clear that they share a long-lasting trauma. One leaves the film with a deeply-felt sense of the lasting trauma caused by torture of any kind.

In addition to the testimony of the survivors themselves, the witness provided by medical and psychological professionals -- notably Dr. Frank Summers and Mary Fabri of the Kovler Center -- begins to lay the foundation for the viewer of an understanding of the trauma that follows torture.

FORGETTING/NOT FORGETTING
For me, a telling statement was that survivors simultaneously yearn to forget torture experiences, and yet, at the same time, are desperate that their experiences not be forgotten. I think part of what that refers to is a purely internal battle -- to hold on to experience or discard it? But another part of that, I think, refers to social memory, and perhaps it is easier for us to know how to attend to that.

If "desperate that those experiences not be forgotten" means that it is important that society know what happened, and take responsibility for it, and assure that it never happens again, then I think that is something all of us can and should agree to participate in. It is certainly a goal that is ably supported by "Beneath the Blindfold."

Related posts

The Chicago Coalition to Shut Down Guantanamo holds weekly vigils at Dearborn and Jackson in Chicago every Friday at 4:30 p.m. to support the Guantanamo Hunger Strikers and to demand that Guantanamo be shut down. (Learn more about weekly vigils by the Chicago Coalition to Shut Down Guantanamo.)


 

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Mayor and the City Council of the City of Chicago stand firm against all forms of torture and inhuman treatment, and hereby proclaim Chicago to be a torture free zone; and . . . (See Chicago: A Torture-Free City?)
 


 

What would Christians think if someone proposed carving out a slice of their Sunday services to worship the God of Entombment? Wouldn't they think that was absurd? After all, if Christianity is anything, isn't it the religion of "UN-entombment"?

(See When is Christianity Going Back to Being the Religion of "UN-entombment"?)

Why Weren't People Talking About It?

More on "What's right before our eyes TODAY . . . ?": Make Drone Killing 100% VISIBLE!
Drones: Am I Responsible?

Last year I spent a lot of time watching movies with my mom. We watched a lot of comedies, and quite a few romances, and usually we didn't pause too long to talk about any one movie before we were off and running, watching the next one. But one movie started us doing a lot of talking.

It seems that everybody has some awareness that Charlie Chaplin did a satirical depiction of Hitler; but unless you've actually seen "The Great Dictator", it's hard to imagine just how bitingly accurate it was. Take a look, for example, at the way Chaplin, in the role of "Adenoid Hynkel" perfectly parodies Adolf Hitler's body language and verbalizations in this clip. (Does that speech actually mean anything in German? Does it matter?)



But what was more remarkable to me was the way the film shows the treatment of Jews by Hitler/Hynkel and his countrymen. For instance, this scene shows Chaplin's Rip Van Winkle-like character returning to his barbershop in the Jewish ghetto after experiencing amnesia, unaware of the persecution that has become commonplace there.



The conceit of the film is that this innocuous Jewish barber (played by Chaplin) is a lookalike for Hitler/Hynkel (also played by Chaplin), and at a crucial moment the two switch places.

It is often said that the West was shocked when the first reports came out of the Nazi concentration camps after the war. I found this hard to believe after realizing how thoroughly, explicitly, and pointedly this 1940 film -- a major studio film, by a Hollywood legend, which was nominated for 5 Oscars -- portrayed German persecution of Jews, including beatings, lynchings, and concentration camps.

After we watched "The Great Dictator" together, I asked Mom if people were talking about German persecution of Jews in 1940. "No," she said, "For instance, at that time I was spending time with your father's family, and because they were in the newspaper business, they were up on all the latest news and events, and talking about everything. But they never talked about this."

"I don't understand why people weren't talking about it," she said.

That conversation got us talking about a lot of things that Mom saw and experienced, especially during the early '40s when she was living in "the big city" of Philadelphia as the country was being drawn into WWII. I was glad that it finally occurred to me to ask, and also that she remembered so much, and so well.

I wonder if, years from now, we will be thinking back to today and feeling surprise at how little we thought about some of the developments in our world, and in our country, and how we talked about them even less. Someday will I have to explain to my kids, or to my kids' kids, why it was that "people just weren't talking about it" . . . ?


MORE: "What did Americans know as the Holocaust unfolded? Quite a lot, it turns out."


[This turned out to be one of my favorite blog posts of 2011. Check out my other 2011 favorite "Scarry Thoughts" blog posts here!]


Related posts


Posterboard and markers: $21.79
Leaflets: $7:50
Bullhorn: $99.99
Standing up for peace and justice when everyone around you is saying "Get a job!" and "GO F**K YOURSELF!": PRICELESS!

(See Dissent: PRICELESS!)






Thinking about the Holocaust Museum's depiction of the reliance on brutality and intimidation during the Holocaust, all I could think of was the repeated use of similar tactics by the U.S. military against prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo.

(See Holocaust Museum: "Those Nazi Bastards!" )






In the "Turing test," a person interacts with a counterpart and tries to tell whether it is a computer or a person. Hmmm . . . and in the case of Barack Obama, the answer would be . . . ?

(See The Obamoid and the Eva Test )