My parents were born in eastern Kentucky and grew up in Jellico, Tennessee. They married in early 1945 and both worked at the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge. A few post World War II decisions led to my birth and childhood in Alabama. When the 1950 census was released, my uncle Jerry, the family genealogist, noted that my parents resided in Jellico the year of my birth. But, I didn’t make the census because I was still in utero. I lived in Alabama my first 55 years, but my grandparents lived in their Tennessee homes well into their 80s and 90s, so when I think of my ancestral home, it’s the Cumberland Mountains of Campbell County, Tennessee. I’ve been to more reunions at Jellico High School than to my Alabama high school.
As a child, I was more familiar with east Tennessee than Alabama. Children tend to bond with fellow children, so by the time I was eight years old, I was a fan of the new Alabama football coach, Paul W. Bryant, a loyalty that solidified over the ensuing years. When the City of Gadsden celebrated the Civil War centennial in 1961, I had a gray shirt and a little gray felt hat. My dad, then with mostly dark hair, grew a beard like Abraham Lincoln’s and wore a top hat. (I didn’t catch the irony then, but now it makes me smile.) I never felt totally at home in Sweet Home, Alabama. Thanks to my parents, I resonated with black Alabamians. In this dystopian moment, we need to know our fullest identity and we need to know the value of looking from the “outside.”
My parents, grandparents and extended family, particularly my mother, encouraged me to think for myself. She was independent and intelligent. She explained to me that many things about life in Alabama were not “right,” such as racial segregation. But, she was savvy enough to understand the costs involved with being an “outside agitator,” as George Wallace and others were fond of labeling any dissenter. Many parents underestimate the power of one-on-one conversations with a child who is respected as if he or she is an adult. I was an only child, which meant I had ample attention. But, my parents had eleven siblings between them, most of whom we engaged at regular intervals, so (as I’ve said before), I was an only child in a large family.
I learned from my extended family that this is a big world and America is a great country. I saw how things were somewhat (though not entirely) different in Tennessee, Ohio, Michigan, California, Kentucky, Florida, overseas and in other places family members visited, worked or resided. I learned that everyone at times feels like an outsider. Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Paul, Augustine, Francis of Assisi, Luther, and Wesley were significant “outside agitators.” If you find yourself feeling like an outsider, you’re in good company. If you’re ridiculed for asking questions or if someone calls you a “troublemaker,” remember that when King Ahab called the prophet Elijah a ‘troublemaker,” Elijah said to the king, “I’m not the troublemaker. You are!”
ICE knows your face. Own it. The Creator of the Universe knows your face. Own that above all else!
From “John Lewis: Good Trouble, IMBD, 2020
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