Putting Pieces Together: Pop Culture is a Teaching Tool

Memphis

May 11-13

View of the Lorraine's classic sign
with the motel in the background

The wreath on the balcony is a replica of the one placed
 there after Dr. King's assassination.

The Lorraine got me started.

Popular culture can be a good teaching tool. Take Watchmen. I learned a lot about the Green Book, I learned about the Tulsa Massacre, I recognized Emmett Till in the story, and felt the terror of a sundown town. There is probably plenty I missed. Here's a link from BET going over some of the history covered. 

Likewise, hearing about the Lorraine Motel on Driving the Green Book sparked my interest in learning more about trying to travel and move about the country as a Black person in America. We see only some of what goes on today. Driving the Green Book gives you the details that fill out the truth of taking a trip prior to 1970 in the U.S.

Pack all your food because you won't be able to buy any on the road. Bathrooms? Hotels? Gas? Good luck. Travel for Black Americans was dangerous enough during Jim Crow, and without the Green Book, it would have been impossible. The book was filled with businesses that would serve Black customers. Imagine putting that together in a time when there was not only no internet, but many people did not have telephones. Who better to write a book like this that someone with a lot of human contact: Victory Hugo Green, a postman.

The Lorraine is a real place.

The Lorraine, I learned, is not just the last place Dr. King spoke to a crowd. It was a haven for black travelers; a unique endeavor built in the 1920's and bought by Loree and Walter Bailey and renamed the Lorraine and began serving Black travelers in 1945. It wasn't just a welcoming place for travelers. It was a place for Black performers and athletes to stay when visiting or performing in Memphis.

In April 1968, Dr. King was visiting Memphis as a part of the recently-launched (November 1967) Poor People's Campaign, an attempt to focus on economic inequality and poverty. He had also been supporting and strategizing with the AFSCME Sanitation workers weeks before, delivering his "Mountaintop" speech to them on April 3rd. He was assassinated the next day.

Scatter the pieces

Many of us have learned just a few things about the Civil Rights Movement, Jim Crow, and/or slavery. Some of us vaguely remember something about 'states rights'. That's actually what I was taught the Civil War was about. Neither the concept nor the mechanics of states rights made sense to me as a fifteen-year-old. As I've said, my parents never talked about this time. (It was all Nixon, Nixon, Nixon in our house. I remember that much)

Pop culture helped me put some pieces together: the Green Book, the Lorraine Motel, and Dr. King's assassination. Each day on this trip, I gather more threads, more connections. How many civil rights museums have I been to at the time of this writing? At least four? And yet I learn many new things at each one. The picture becomes clearer, the lines of connection thicker. It starts to make sense as a continuum. The line from slavery to today is clear and the behaviors of intimidation, oppression, violence, and lawlessness on the part of white people against Black Americans is loud and impossible to ignore.

Why didn't I know these things? Because if you scatter the pieces far enough, you can't see the patterns and connections. Which means the chance that someone will uncover your crimes is lower. lack of knowledge about the machine keeps the machine running. I'll have more about these connecting pieces in other posts.

Continuity of today.

Today, the Poor People's Campaign is alive and well. It is spearheaded by Reverend Dr. William Barber II, who is an inspiring and empathetic speaker whether you are religious or not. The platform of the Poor People's Campaign may sound familiar to you from Bernie Sanders' campaign.

Americans Who Tell the Truth is a beautiful website that makes the people who make a difference come to life. You can check out activists and leaders by sortable categories (including centuries!) on the linked site.

Some examples of my current heroes are:

Bree Newsome Bass, the hero who removed the confederate flag from the State House in South Carolina.

Alicia Garza, who began the Black Lives Matter movement in 2013 with Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi after the murder of Trayvon Martin.

Other Resources and Info

What did I see in Memphis?

Lorraine Motel: Quality accommodations for Black people, civil rights leaders planned and strategized here, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on the balcony here. It is now part of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.

W.C. Handy House: Handy was the "Father of the Blues". His bio is linked, and fascinating.

Beale Street: historically Black business district

Ida B. Wells was a journalist and activist; she owned and ran two newspapers in Memphis. Please read her bio. She has many accomplishments.

Recommended Reading

Labor Power is the Key to Racial Equity, Thomas Geoghegan, The New Republic

How Black Activists Shaped the Labor Movement, Kim Kelly, Teen Vogue

The Negro and the Labor Unions, Booker T. Washington, The Atlantic

W.C Handy's House. So cute!

We Do Entertainment and Fast Food

May 6, 2021

Albuquerque, NM to Amarillo, TX
Miles Today: 301
Total miles: 2,469
Gas in NM: $2.79

 What we're good at

Here I am with my friend, cardboard Gus Fring. One thing I learned from living overseas is that the major influences in and exports from the U.S. are entertainment and fast food. I can't say we're good at either one of them, but we are prolific. One thing we are very good at that some of the countries I've visited were lacking in is construction safety. And we probably have our propensity for litigation to thank for that.
The 'real' world of American culture is heavily influenced by the entertainment industry and pop culture, and nothing makes our dreams come true like being able to see where our favorite characters made meth and dissolved bodies.

It happened to Albuquerque

Anyway, Albuquerque was lucky enough to be the setting for Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Some are unhappy about that, because what generally comes along with fan worship is a sense of entitlement and ownership of the places and people from our favorite stories. This attitude leads to a lack of privacy for some, and can include people throwing pizza onto the roof of your garage. 

Let's monetize this

It's not unusual to cash in on this type of craving people have to try to make their favorites come to life. It's something I spent a fair amount of time judging and poo-pooing. But I guess I've been back in the U.S. long enough to dive in and try to grab the fantasy just like other fans. And my visit to the Breaking Bad store was everything I wanted and more. 

They had a museum with fan art and bona fide props. I dove right in. There were t-shirts and aprons and shot glasses and coasters, mugs, masks, monopoly, and blue rock candy. It was nuts, and I spent fifty bucks. But what I also got was a man behind the counter (the owner) who shared my enthusiasm for the fantasy I was chasing. I asked him about one scene that was filmed in front of a yellow wall. I wanted to see that wall.  He knew exactly what I was talking about, and told me that it exists, that it is blocked off, and that they recreated the wall for filming somewhere else because there wasn't enough room to get the shots they wanted.

Have an A-1 day every day

Yes, you can take a tour of the sites in the show in a crappy RV. I absolutely would have done this if I had known about it in advance. One location I did go to was the site of the A-1 car wash. I thought I might actually get my car washed there, as it was pretty darned dusty and buggy, but I didn't want to bust my fantasy bubble by having a mundane interaction with someone who definitely would not be Flynn.

I took a picture from far out in the parking lot, and there was another fan doing the same thing. I shouted over to him, "All I need is for someone to tell me to have an A-1 day!" So he did, and I wished him the same. That connection to a real person was facilitated by our interest in something that didn't exist. But the last year (or five) has created enough distortion that 'reality' slips, making room for fiction; this fiction has been necessary for many of us to contend with reality. We've been forced to release the grip a little.