I have written in past posts about how bleak the outlook of Bamberg is. Before the obituary is written on the town, I have edited another SHORT video that gives you a little glimpse into the spark and life of Bamberg- the people who live in Bamberg and those who want Bamberg to exist. Without saying too much, here is another video...
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Friday, October 31, 2008
On the day of the Bamberg Design Workshop, we (the students and professors) drove around town, took pictures, videos and talked to some residents. Below is a SHORT video of some footage from the video taken while driving around town. I guess the one shot that is most telling is the final scene. Turn the sound on.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Bamberg Design Workshop
First, I have to thank Jessica from Bamberg-Erhardt High School for coming to the design workshop. Although she was the only student I spoke to that made the workshop, she made it. Can we get her a certificate or something to thank her and show her it was worth the trip to share her thoughts with us?
Secondly, while I know there were a ton of stories to tell, I really only got to talk to Mr. Maynard and Mr. Haye in depth. If you caught any of our conversations, I am sure you learned a lot too. Mr. Maynard served in the Normandy invasion under General Patton. The significance of that is that Mr. Maynard is black, my grandfather is white and General Patton is the great-grandfather of my roommate and long time friend from boarding school, Bea. Kind of an interesting coincidence.
So, what was the big deal about one guy being white and one being black? Mr. Maynard worked in a segregated support unit in munitions. (He has an interesting story about how they got the weapons and ammunition to soldiers that involves water, crates and the current). My grandfather, a lifelong bigot, served on an advance team that was given the task of breaking the German supply lines. These men relied on each other but because of racism and sheer stupidity were kept from actively benefitting from the other's skills and knowledge. The mind wobbles at how shortsighted and narrowminded people can be at the wrong time.
Mr. Haye came to Bamberg from Jamaica in 1951 to work for Stokely. He met his wife in 1953 and married in 1954. They spent some time in Philadephia where they raised a family. I never got to find out why they came back to Bamberg, but only one daughter lives in South Carolina (in Orangeburg). Sad to see family is so far away from the Hayes.
You would have thought I went down to Bamberg to visit, jawjack and meet new people. Ok, I did go for that, but I also went to document the discussions and opinions of the town residents and officials. I am not sure how to edit the video footage I have, but I want to make a piece that will make the town proud. The trick will be to do it with my limited skills without making it cheesy.
I am not sure what our design task for the town will be. Right now, talk is centered around a corridor study and recommendations. SCDOT, in their infinite wisdom, saw fit to close off the town's historical roads to create a highway throught the center of town. No outsiders stop and now residents literally have to take "back" roads to access their homes and businesses that can't be reached from the front.
I will have to post some town footage to this site so you can see what I am talking about.
Talk atcha' later.
Secondly, while I know there were a ton of stories to tell, I really only got to talk to Mr. Maynard and Mr. Haye in depth. If you caught any of our conversations, I am sure you learned a lot too. Mr. Maynard served in the Normandy invasion under General Patton. The significance of that is that Mr. Maynard is black, my grandfather is white and General Patton is the great-grandfather of my roommate and long time friend from boarding school, Bea. Kind of an interesting coincidence.
So, what was the big deal about one guy being white and one being black? Mr. Maynard worked in a segregated support unit in munitions. (He has an interesting story about how they got the weapons and ammunition to soldiers that involves water, crates and the current). My grandfather, a lifelong bigot, served on an advance team that was given the task of breaking the German supply lines. These men relied on each other but because of racism and sheer stupidity were kept from actively benefitting from the other's skills and knowledge. The mind wobbles at how shortsighted and narrowminded people can be at the wrong time.
Mr. Haye came to Bamberg from Jamaica in 1951 to work for Stokely. He met his wife in 1953 and married in 1954. They spent some time in Philadephia where they raised a family. I never got to find out why they came back to Bamberg, but only one daughter lives in South Carolina (in Orangeburg). Sad to see family is so far away from the Hayes.
You would have thought I went down to Bamberg to visit, jawjack and meet new people. Ok, I did go for that, but I also went to document the discussions and opinions of the town residents and officials. I am not sure how to edit the video footage I have, but I want to make a piece that will make the town proud. The trick will be to do it with my limited skills without making it cheesy.
I am not sure what our design task for the town will be. Right now, talk is centered around a corridor study and recommendations. SCDOT, in their infinite wisdom, saw fit to close off the town's historical roads to create a highway throught the center of town. No outsiders stop and now residents literally have to take "back" roads to access their homes and businesses that can't be reached from the front.
I will have to post some town footage to this site so you can see what I am talking about.
Talk atcha' later.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Flowers in a Vacant Lot
I finally got to go down to Bamberg yesterday, to meet with Student Council and Junior Leadership members of Bamberg-Erhardt High School. I had heard about the extreme poverty from a lot of students and faculty. Once I got off of I-26 in and got past Orangeburg, the terrain suddenly looked very familiar and I realized I felt at home because the sandy soil, cotton fields and pine trees reminded me of the roads I drive through Flomaton, AL when I visit my Nana in Pensacola, FL.
So I immediately felt at home and understood the poverty. But, Bamberg isn't Flomaton. Honest to goodness, the town is all but dead, and they don't know it. But ignorance is bliss and the kids at the high school, and the townsfolk working with the Mayor's Institute to come up with a design solution to encourage economic growth, are like the proverbial flower in a vacant lot. Things go to die in vacant lots- broken bottles, dead animals, sometimes human bodies, cars- they all die in vacant lots, and in turn those lots choke neighborhoods. But there is ALWAYS a flower that thrives in those lots, no matter how much trash there is around the lot. The kids are like that flower. They were bright, intelligent and excited to see something down in Bamberg.
I met with the students for about 1/2 hour. My goal was to talk about the Bamberg design workshop and its purpose. I HOPE that at least a couple of the students will be able to make the Bamberg town design workshop October 18, 2008.
In all honesty, some students used the meeting time as a means to get out of class. But I think there was some genuine interest. I laid out a map of the area around their high school and put some trace paper over that. The students had the markers and with some prompting, they laid out what was in their town, where they hung out and what they wanted for their town. Obviously much of what they put down had to do with what they wanted and didn't necessarily consider the rest of the population, but that was ok too because it was about them at this point.
When I started the meeting, I asked how many wanted to stay in town after they graduated and there wasn't one single person who wanted to stay. They listed jobs and the lack of places for them to hang out as the biggest reasons for wanting to leave. While I can't do a thing about that, I did encourage them to think about the design workshop as a way to communicate to the older residents what might keep them. Bamberg's population is falling dramatically (I will post some charts at a later date) and if the town doesn't find a way to keep these kids and the ones that follow, the town as they know it, will cease to exist.
So I immediately felt at home and understood the poverty. But, Bamberg isn't Flomaton. Honest to goodness, the town is all but dead, and they don't know it. But ignorance is bliss and the kids at the high school, and the townsfolk working with the Mayor's Institute to come up with a design solution to encourage economic growth, are like the proverbial flower in a vacant lot. Things go to die in vacant lots- broken bottles, dead animals, sometimes human bodies, cars- they all die in vacant lots, and in turn those lots choke neighborhoods. But there is ALWAYS a flower that thrives in those lots, no matter how much trash there is around the lot. The kids are like that flower. They were bright, intelligent and excited to see something down in Bamberg.
I met with the students for about 1/2 hour. My goal was to talk about the Bamberg design workshop and its purpose. I HOPE that at least a couple of the students will be able to make the Bamberg town design workshop October 18, 2008.
In all honesty, some students used the meeting time as a means to get out of class. But I think there was some genuine interest. I laid out a map of the area around their high school and put some trace paper over that. The students had the markers and with some prompting, they laid out what was in their town, where they hung out and what they wanted for their town. Obviously much of what they put down had to do with what they wanted and didn't necessarily consider the rest of the population, but that was ok too because it was about them at this point.
When I started the meeting, I asked how many wanted to stay in town after they graduated and there wasn't one single person who wanted to stay. They listed jobs and the lack of places for them to hang out as the biggest reasons for wanting to leave. While I can't do a thing about that, I did encourage them to think about the design workshop as a way to communicate to the older residents what might keep them. Bamberg's population is falling dramatically (I will post some charts at a later date) and if the town doesn't find a way to keep these kids and the ones that follow, the town as they know it, will cease to exist.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The Personal
It is awkward to have discussions in class for me, particularly ones that relate to race. I feel my age. Not in a bad way. But that I find myself getting more and more jaded about the world and yet I enjoy watching the excitement of discovery when the other students learn or feel something strong when it deals with class, race and economic struggles in the South. I am not a spokesperson for the black people of South Carolina, but we share a legacy that has impacted in a uniquely common way.
I am a Yankee. My father is from the south, but if you asked him, he would say he was Yankee. My mother is from New Jersey. Discussions about race are personal for me and I am self-conscious. I am obviously the product of a mixed-race union. I was raised by hippies and when I was a kid, I thought nothing of civil rights marches and political rallies. I lived the civil rights struggle. I remember the time I saw some girls I played with marching on the opposite side of road, marching against racial unity and equality, and we never spoke again. I didn't speak to them. They never spoke to me, but a line had been drawn for us and we knew there was no compromise.
I was the ONLY child of color in my classes for most of my elementary school years. Children were told not to play with me and my sisters; we weren't invited to parties; we were called names; and teachers were openly prejudiced. My sensitivity is heightened and I hope I don't die with the chip that still resides on my shoulder. I want to make my children aware and proud of their mixed heritage, but I don't want to give them pieces of my chip.
Going to Bamberg is a way for me to help, just a little, and make things right for all the people of Bamberg, regardless of race. But yes, I am conscious of my duty to my people, my fellow black folk. My duty is to help them find a way to be heard and to REPRESENT. Represent means to not embarrass them and be a postive reflection on the rich soul of the black people. That is a heavy burden and I feel it every day. I am scared and excited to get on with it and learn how to help heal old wounds via the design workshop.
I am a Yankee. My father is from the south, but if you asked him, he would say he was Yankee. My mother is from New Jersey. Discussions about race are personal for me and I am self-conscious. I am obviously the product of a mixed-race union. I was raised by hippies and when I was a kid, I thought nothing of civil rights marches and political rallies. I lived the civil rights struggle. I remember the time I saw some girls I played with marching on the opposite side of road, marching against racial unity and equality, and we never spoke again. I didn't speak to them. They never spoke to me, but a line had been drawn for us and we knew there was no compromise.
I was the ONLY child of color in my classes for most of my elementary school years. Children were told not to play with me and my sisters; we weren't invited to parties; we were called names; and teachers were openly prejudiced. My sensitivity is heightened and I hope I don't die with the chip that still resides on my shoulder. I want to make my children aware and proud of their mixed heritage, but I don't want to give them pieces of my chip.
Going to Bamberg is a way for me to help, just a little, and make things right for all the people of Bamberg, regardless of race. But yes, I am conscious of my duty to my people, my fellow black folk. My duty is to help them find a way to be heard and to REPRESENT. Represent means to not embarrass them and be a postive reflection on the rich soul of the black people. That is a heavy burden and I feel it every day. I am scared and excited to get on with it and learn how to help heal old wounds via the design workshop.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Race, Place and Bamberg
Class discussion today was very good. I liked the idea of meeting at Joe's at Clemson's Madren Center. It made the session seem more like a casual coffee shop chat. Perhaps that made people feel a little less timid about talking about JIM CROW and THE SOUTH.
I write those two things in caps because they are huge, loaded names. You can't talk about either without a discussion about racism, segregation, civil rights, class strife, lynching, miscegenation, the Civil War, or other contentious topics. But talk we did and it was a very open, respectful conversation. In fact, I did not detect any unease, awkwardness or hostility. Is it our maturity? I think it is perhaps because we all voluntarily signed up for a class to work with an economically depressed town that is predominantly black. We are obviously not afraid of race. I also think that everyone who signed up for this class is empathetic and has a social conscience.
We had the assignment this week of reading exerpts from two books: "The Mind of the South" and "Race, Place and the Law." In addition to the reading, we each watched "Corridor of Shame" the movie I mentioned in the last post. The point of the assignment was to read and watch analyses of the state of race, place and South Carolina over a period of time. Yeah, things are quite a bit better in terms of race relations and interactions. Yeah, Jim Crow is dead! But the legacy of the oppression remains and creates a fertile ground for the neglect of an entire population of people simply because of their race and socio-economic status. South Carolina in 2008 is a prime example of the problem. Until this is acknowledged and addressed decisively, South Carolina will continue to be known by and be dragged down by its worst schools in polls and status. Plain and simple.
I am a bit overwhelmed at the thought of how little we, as students, can do in the town of Bamberg, SC this semester. The legacy of racism and inequality is a hurdle that only the residents can jump. Assistance is there, but the oppressed towns have the greatest power to make the changes they want to see.
I write those two things in caps because they are huge, loaded names. You can't talk about either without a discussion about racism, segregation, civil rights, class strife, lynching, miscegenation, the Civil War, or other contentious topics. But talk we did and it was a very open, respectful conversation. In fact, I did not detect any unease, awkwardness or hostility. Is it our maturity? I think it is perhaps because we all voluntarily signed up for a class to work with an economically depressed town that is predominantly black. We are obviously not afraid of race. I also think that everyone who signed up for this class is empathetic and has a social conscience.
We had the assignment this week of reading exerpts from two books: "The Mind of the South" and "Race, Place and the Law." In addition to the reading, we each watched "Corridor of Shame" the movie I mentioned in the last post. The point of the assignment was to read and watch analyses of the state of race, place and South Carolina over a period of time. Yeah, things are quite a bit better in terms of race relations and interactions. Yeah, Jim Crow is dead! But the legacy of the oppression remains and creates a fertile ground for the neglect of an entire population of people simply because of their race and socio-economic status. South Carolina in 2008 is a prime example of the problem. Until this is acknowledged and addressed decisively, South Carolina will continue to be known by and be dragged down by its worst schools in polls and status. Plain and simple.
I am a bit overwhelmed at the thought of how little we, as students, can do in the town of Bamberg, SC this semester. The legacy of racism and inequality is a hurdle that only the residents can jump. Assistance is there, but the oppressed towns have the greatest power to make the changes they want to see.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Corridor of Shame: Neglect of South Carolina's Rural Schools
South Carolina is in the news because of our steadily growing economy and national profile, but we still have some of the most grossly underfunded public school systems in the nation. Check out this trailer for the documentary "Corridor of Shame."
I found the video evidence of the funding disparity more compelling than the statements from many of the teachers. It isn't that I found their message untrustworthy, it is just that the strongest evidence needed no words to describe- rat infestation, inadequate building weatherization, etc. I would love to see a followup that outlines, with hard numbers and data, the funding disparity between the poorest community schools and the richest.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Welcome
I never thought I would be one to blog. I prefer to lurk in the background and read other people's blogs. In my mind, a blog was somewhat narcissistic. Perhaps not. Maybe I have to find a way to remove the "I" from this and make it about more.
So why, you may be asking yourself, am I writing a blog if I prefer anonymity? The blog and our comments is actually a class requirement for a Clemson landscape architecture/architecture class called "Rules of Engagement." We will be working with the town of Bamberg, SC this semester to help gather and organize data, and to then assist in a community design workshop that will address community design wants and needs.
I took this class because it fulfills my desire to find some purpose in my everyday life to address social and economic justice and equality. I teach my own children things that I hope will make them not only happy adults, but will also inspire them to do good things for other people and become good citizens of this great planet. I studied architecture and political science to understand inequity and to develop tools to do something to affect change.
But I digress and seem to be preaching. Initially this blog will be directly related to the Clemson University Course, "Rules of Engagement, III," and a community survey and design workshop for Denmark, SC fall 2008. Poco a poco, I plan to include links or articles of interest, video clips or other things that may inspire others to also speak out and take an active role in making our country and world a better place for all.
So why, you may be asking yourself, am I writing a blog if I prefer anonymity? The blog and our comments is actually a class requirement for a Clemson landscape architecture/architecture class called "Rules of Engagement." We will be working with the town of Bamberg, SC this semester to help gather and organize data, and to then assist in a community design workshop that will address community design wants and needs.
I took this class because it fulfills my desire to find some purpose in my everyday life to address social and economic justice and equality. I teach my own children things that I hope will make them not only happy adults, but will also inspire them to do good things for other people and become good citizens of this great planet. I studied architecture and political science to understand inequity and to develop tools to do something to affect change.
But I digress and seem to be preaching. Initially this blog will be directly related to the Clemson University Course, "Rules of Engagement, III," and a community survey and design workshop for Denmark, SC fall 2008. Poco a poco, I plan to include links or articles of interest, video clips or other things that may inspire others to also speak out and take an active role in making our country and world a better place for all.
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