Conkaline, Vaseline and “Peanut’s” House of Slick

All of this started years ago at Troy Wilson's house in response to a young lady by the name Geraldine Hopkins. She was the catalyst that started a series of events made especially for today's home digital movie cameras. Once upon a time, musicians, pimps and other denizens of the night were the primary wearers of processed hair. Others avoided it thinking it made them look greasy or shiny, a cardinal sin for black folks in those days. Later it became a symbol of trying to look white, but that's another story.

Because of Geraldine Hopkins, one of my best friends decided to get a process as conks were commonly known. The first problem came when we could find no barbershop in the general vicinity that did processes of any type. Kansas City was the nearest city that offered processed hair. It seemed as if there was a shop on every other corner there, but $50 was a lot to pay for a fancy hairdo. Fortunately, none of us had to pay it, so it didn’t matter, but for “Cool Breeze” Wilson, the price was too steep. Secondly, congolene, was difficult in our area.

That's when James 'Peanut' Franklin stepped into the picture saying that not only did he know how to do it, but he would do it for only $20. Peanut did his own and by looking at his “do,” it was apparent. So, Peanut had experience, but none of us especially Troy knew that it would make difference in the split-second sequence of applying a process. We all went with Peanut and Troy to get the necessary tools for the job and were surprised that the only things we recognized was a comb. The rest of the tools were chemicals (lye, eggs & potatoes).

We were in Troy’s kitchen when Peanut’s house of conk opened. With a seeming expert’s touch, Peanut whipped together the ingredients into a thick paste, which he would apply to Troy’s scalp later. After about ten minutes he began to applying the before applying the home made conk to Troy’s hair. Peanut let it sit for almost 10 minutes before he even thought about using it. That’s was it! Or, so we thought.

Peanut explained that the paste would straighten Troy’s hair and the more he combed it through his hair, the smoother it would become until his hair would look straight as Elvis Presley’s. It all seemed straightforward to us. We watched as Troy, dishtowel wrapped around his neck, sat while Peanut combed the pasty concoction through his hair. It was quite boring, at least for the first five minutes, then, everything changed.

“Nut, it’s starting to burn,” Troy said.

“Yeah, it’ll do that for awhile. That’s why I put that mineral oil in your hair to keep it from burning your scalp.”

“Burning my scalp? You didn’t say nothing about burning my scalp. Shit. It’s burning man. You gotta get this this shit off of here,” Tray shouted.

“We have to leave it in just a little longer if you want it to get straight,” Peanut said.

We watched with full smiles on our faces as Troy squirmed and fidgeted trying to tough it out. Sweat was pouring from his brow and the laughs were seeping through our lips.

“Ooh goddam. I’m about to piss on myself,” Troy said.

“Just 30 more seconds,” Peanut said.

Finally, it was over; or, it seemed like it was over. We could hear Troy shouting from the bathroom all the things he was going to do to Peanut if he survived.

When Troy came out of the bathroom, his hair was laying across his ears—straight as a bone. It worked! Of course, none of us, including Troy or Peanut knew what happened later. No one mentioned sores in the scalp or being unable to comb your hair. It was all quite comical to us, but Troy and Peanut almost lost friendship over it.

Eventually, it all worked out and pompadour Wilson came into being. None of us liked the way it looked, especially Geraldine Hopkins, but if any of that bothered Troy, he never showed it, but that was his last “conk.”

Y

ou got a problem with gay adoption? So do I. My problem stems from ignorance. I don’t have enough information about children raised by gay couples to know if the practice might be harmful to the children. However, I do have a problem with your opinion against it, if you are not adopting a child.

To me, it is a case of blind men and women telling me what an elephant looks like. Right now, the state acts as parents, which is the same as having none. There are thousands of children who need homes and there is nothing stopping concerned heterosexual citizens from adopting these children and keeping them out of the hands of these dangerous homosexuals. These children need exactly the types of homes touted by the loudest protesters against gay adoption.

They need homes with strong moral values, family environments and plenty of love for our fellow man, which seems to be in short supply for many. Still, to keep these children out of the hands of these godless and predatory homosexuals, the righteous need to hurry down and adopt one, two or even three of these children and help thwart homosexual lust.

Every year more than 75% of adoptable children remain unadopted. Why? The primary reason is that those who are adopting want white children under a year old. That leaves Hispanic and Black children sitting in orphanages until they turn 18 and become wards of the state, which we don’t want to pay for with our tax dollars.

We could kill them all and that would save us some money, but it isn’t about the money, it’s about keeping these poor children out of the hands of the homosexuals. I agree let’s do it. Let’s adopt all of the children and then there will be no more children for homosexuals to adopt.

Maybe the uproar has nothing to do with homosexuality. Each year an estimated 896,000 children across the country are victims of abuse or neglect in good Christian homes, according to national data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The statistics indicate about 12.3 out of every 1,000 children were victims of abuse or neglect.

These statistics cover only heterosexual families. The statistics based on information collected through the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System; show that child protective service agencies received about 2,600,000 reports of possible maltreatment. There were 896,000 substantiated cases of maltreatment of children—the majority of which involved cases of neglect by heterosexual, Christian parents. About 1,400 children died of abuse or neglect, a rate of 1.98 children per 100,000 children in the population.

Perhaps, heterosexuals don’t want gays left to face these types of problems and if that is the case, their stance is commendable. On the other hand, it may be that no one from the white community is going to adopt a minority child and are so homophobic they don’t see the children who need love and care.

It is a bigotry hidden by religious zeal and political posturing, but when it comes to showing love to their fellow man and woman, their care about adoptive children is as shallow as their slogans. They are more interested in denying others opportunities than in helping to solve a problem that continues to haunt the country—too many children under the care of the state. 

Skin Politics

Years ago, a strange saying circulated throughout the black community illustrating the skin politics that lingers from slavery. "If you're white you're all right. If you're brown stick around, but if you're black stay back." It may surprise some, but the doggerel poetry originated in the black community long ago and reflects the unsubtle preoccupation with skin color among African Americans.

History

Although skin color among Africa slaves was predominately dark brown to nearly black, concern about color came about as a direct result of miscegenation. Although the term is commonly associated with African slavery in the United States, it came about much sooner than the kidnapping of blacks from Africa as the first blacks arrived in 1619 as indentured servants. Black and white indentured servants worked for a specific number of years and were then freed. The lives of black and white indentured servants were similar at this time. They worked side by side; they lived together in the same dwellings and fraternized after their labors. They also married and had children together.[1]

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, miscegenation is defined as During slavery, miscegenation between white and blacks was strictly prohibited. Although forbidden, instances of sexual intercourse between white and black occurred and usually without black female consent.

In the United States, whites saw themselves as superior and all others as subordinate or inferior. This practice was termed hypodescent. During American slavery, the word meant the automatic assignment of children of a white and union between members of different ethnic groups to subordinate status. Progeny of these usually forced incidents became mulattos. However, as the children of forbidden relations matured there was intermarriage between mulattos producing quadroons (a person of one-quarter African ancestry and a Caucasian parent). Octoroon meant a person with one-eighth African ancestry and one white parent.

Perceptions and Reality

Focus on skin color came early during slavery as mixed children of slave owners received better consideration than slaves with pure African blood. The difference was not lost on unmixed slaves as the children of slave master often received hostile treatment from regular field hands. The politics of skin came early for African slaves. Many slaves were children of well-to-do white fathers and many were recognized and sponsored by their fathers. Once free, Negroes of lighter skin color came to dominate the free black community both in numbers and influence.

Because of the better treatment, former slaves often focused on marriage to a lighter skinned black in order to have a lighter child, which was seen as an asset in the black community as fair-skinned Negroes seemed to obtain better jobs and treatment. Even black sexuality did not escape the effects of skin politics as lighter skinned men and women tended to have their choice of marriageable partners. Whether it was the benefit of better jobs or prized romantic interests, skin color has long been an issue in the black community.

Skin Lighteners

Skin lightening or whitening creams have met with controversy in the black community where many claim that such products lead to confused identities and devaluations of traditional cultures. With portions of the black community “skin lightening” is considered to be brought about by a combination of self-hatred, European ideas of beauty and a desire to be accepted by greater society to create better opportunities. How much of this is true remains open to question, but the reality of skin bleaching is tangible and often produces unexpected results.

The skin lightening industry is a multi-million dollar industry, but the economic leads many to give legitimacy to the business of changing skin color, as most creams are a dangerous concoction of chemicals such as steroids, hydroquinone and tretinoin. The long-term use of these drug cocktails can lead to permanent pigmentation changes, skin cancer, liver damage, mercury poisoning and many others.

Yet, the formulations of these products are shrouded in mystery and awareness of their hazardous effects is low. Nearly 30 per cent of long-term users report adverse effects as most skin lightening creams contain mainly two chemicals, hydroquinone or mercury.[2] Mercury is poisonous and can cause permanent damage the nervous system. Mercury poisoning is still known today as 'Mad Hatter's disease as it used to be used in the making of hats. The chemical affected the nervous systems of hatters, causing them to tremble and appear insane. Toxic levels of mercury can also lead to kidney damage and may lead to psychiatric disorders. In addition, it can lead to severe birth defects. [3]

Other chemicals include topical steroids, which can hypertension, elevated blood sugar and suppression of the body’s natural steroids. The steroid corticosteroid used in some bleaching creams can result in Cushing's disease, a malfunction of the adrenal glands leading to an overproduction of cortisol. Other side effects include increased appetite and weight gain, deposits of fat in chest, face, upper back, and stomach, swelling, slowed healing of wounds, osteoporosis, cataracts, acne, muscle weakness, thinning of the skin and more. [4]

Consumers wrongly assumed that all ingredients were disclosed on labels. “There’s a basic assumption that there’s some truth in labeling,” said Dr. David McDaniel, a dermatologist in Virginia Beach and a director of the Skin of Color Research Institute at Hampton University (a historically black college). “That’s a false assumption for the skin-lightening market.”[5]

Skin lightning is not relegated to the African American community as countries as diverse as Senegal, India and the Philippines skin lightning is promoted as a way to elevate one’s social standing. India has a thriving fairness industry and fairness creams are reportedly the most popular in the unfettered skin care market. In 2003, Dr S. Allen Counter of Harvard Medical School reported that the high levels of mercury found in people, but particularly women, from Mexico, Saudi Arabia and in Tanzania in East Africa related to the use of skin lightening creams.[6] Allen also reported that 96% of over 300 patients in the Southwestern United States that have higher than normal mercury levels were female and all had used skin lightening products; likewise 90% of women tested in clinics in Arizona who were Mexican-American had been using the same products.[7]

Discrimination?

It’s not some fantasy. There is prejudice against dark-skinned people, especially women in the so-called marriage market. Interestingly, prejudice often surfaces among members of the same ethnic groups and races. For the longest, in the African American community light skin was considered more attractive, better accepted and led to superior opportunities. Fairer, lighter skin is highly valued in some countries such as Asia and India.

Men

A small percentage of men also use bleaching creams. Former Chicago Cubs slugger, Sammy Sosa, has a noticeable change of skin color. Sosa, a Dominican-born American citizen, told a reporter from ESPN that he had used a cream nightly to “soften” his skin and that it had bleached it, too.[8]

Given that chemical skin lightening has a range of serious side effects, the best advice would be to stay clear of such products and be happy to be in your skin.[9]

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^[1] Linda Allen Bryant, Slavery and Miscegenation in America, The Legacy of West Ford, http://www.westfordlegacy.com/History/slavedoc.html

^[2] Nalini Ravichandran, Skin whitening creams can cause long-term damage, doctors warn, Daily News, August 4, 2013, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2384456/Skin-whitening-creams-cause-long-term-damage-doctors-warn.html#ixzz31yQIvPd7

[3] Dr. S. Allen Counter, Whitening skin can be deadly, Boston Globe, December 16, 2003, http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2003/12/16/whitening_skin_can_be_deadly/

[4] Lynn Berry, The Dangers of Using Skin Lightening Creams, March 27, 2008, http://www.naturalnews.com/022893_skin_dangers_products.html#ixzz379p8lTcA

^[5] Catherine Saint Louis, Creams Offering Lighter Skin May Bring Risks, New York Times, January 15, 2010,

[6] Lynn Berry, The Dangers of Using Skin Lightening Creams, March 27, 2008, http://www.naturalnews.com/022893_skin_dangers_products.html#ixzz379p8lTcA

[7] Dr. S. Allen Counter, Whitening skin can be deadly, Boston Globe, December 16, 2003, http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2003/12/16/whitening_skin_can_be_deadly/

^[8] Enrique Rojas, Sosa: Cream has bleached skin, Sports ESPN, November 10, 2009

[9] Simon Pitman, Medical research highlights dangers of skin lightening, Cosmetics Design, February 15, 2008,

http://www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com/Formulation-Science/Medical-research-highlights-dangers-of-skin-lightening?utm_source=copyright&utm_medium=OnSite&utm_campaign=copyright

By Any Means Necessary

In the justification of slavery, slave masters and holders went to great lengths to deny the humanity of slaves. The Bible’s story of Ham surfaces regularly to ration mean dark skin and slavery and mistakenly or purposely that the Curse of Ham had anything to do with either. Further exegesis about the meaning about the curse of Ham is another discussion. However, the use of the Bible as reason and justification of slavery in the United States is considerable.

The dehumanization of blacks in the United States is nothing new. In fact, it has historic roots from so-called respected sources, such as the disease in the heading. Even without the Bible, white Americans found numerous ways to dehumanize slaves. Two of those ways resorted to pseudoscience by a respected MD and a signer of the Declaration of Independence who was also considered as the “Father of Psychiatry” in the United States. Prominent among theories surrounding slave mental disorders was Samuel A. Cartwright.

Cartwright diagnosed a disorder known as drapetomania. Drapetomania was a supposed mental illness described by Cartwright in 1851 that caused black slaves to flee captivity.[1] Today, it is considered as an example of pseudoscience^[2]and part of the edifice of scientific racism.^[3]The term derives from the Greek δραπετης (drapetes, "a runaway [slave]") + μανια (mania, "madness, frenzy").[4]

Cartwright described the disorder—which, he said, was "unknown to our medical authorities, although its diagnostic symptom, the absconding from service, is well known to our planters and overseers"[5]—in a paper delivered before the Medical Association of Louisiana[6] that was widely reprinted. He stated that the malady was a consequence of masters who "made themselves too familiar with [slaves], treating them as equals."[7] In Diseases and “Pecularities of the Negro Race,” Cartwright writes that the Bible calls for a slave to be submissive to his master, and by doing so, the slave will have no desire to run away.[8]

“If the white man attempts to oppose the Deity's will, by trying to make the negro anything else than "the submissive knee-bender" (which the Almighty declared he should be), by trying to raise him to a level with himself, or by putting himself on an equality with the negro; or if he abuses the power which God has given him over his fellow-man, by being cruel to him, or punishing him in anger, or by neglecting to protect him from the wanton abuses of his fellow-servants and all others, or by denying him the usual comforts and necessaries of life, the negro will run away; but if he keeps him in the position that we learn from the Scriptures he was intended to occupy, that is, the position of submission; and if his master or overseer be kind and gracious in his hearing towards him, without condescension, and at the same time ministers to his physical wants, and protects him from abuses, the negro is spell-bound, and cannot run away.”[9]

In his overriding concerns about slavery and diagnosis, Cartwright also invented another disease called, dysaesthesia aethiopica. The disease, also known as “rascality” among Southern slave owners exhibited itself in “slow or lethargic” behaviors among slaves, which be cured by a applying a good beating. In Cartwright’s idiotic pseudoscience the “disease” was most observable in free slaves living by themselves, a diagnosis that is hardly surprising.

Curiously, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and Dean of the Medical School at the University of Pennsylvania and the "Father of American Psychiatry, Benjamin Rush, MD (1746­1813), "described Negroes as “suffering from an affliction called Negritude,” which was thought to be a mild form of leprosy. The only cure for the disorder was to become white! However, Dr Rush's observation, observation might be more accurate, but hardly a disease. Instead, at that time nowhere was it ever considered that the transition of living free to be cast into slavery was a transition that did not sit well upon the shoulders of former free men..[10]

Cartwright, provides just one of many excuses of how slave masters used the Bible to deny the obvious humanity of slaves. It has always been a particular point of confusion that African Americans are by far the most religious group in the United States. Even though Christian beliefs sinking to a record low of 74 percent, African American belief and church attendance has hovered at or close to 91% since ratings started. A strange dichotomy considering how the Bible was used to keep black ancestors in captivity.

In addition to identifying drapetomania, Cartwright prescribed a remedy. His feeling was that with "proper medical advice, strictly followed, this troublesome practice that many Negroes have of running away can be almost entirely prevented."[11] In the case of slaves, ". . .sulky and dissatisfied without cause," was an indicator or “. . .  a warning sign of imminent flight.´ To prevent incidence of drapetomania, Cartwright prescribed "whipping the devil out of them" as a "preventative measure."[12], [13] ^,[14]

Although many Bible verses came about in relation to surviving the oppression of the crumbling Roman Empire, the tenets provided ample room for interpretation justifying slavery. The particular verses, come from a number of verses in the Bible. For instance, this particular verse coming from Colossians 3:22 is just one of many slaveholders used to rationalize ownership of human beings. “Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. “

That is just one of many reasons used by American slave owners as justification to enslave Africans. The entire premise operated on two levels. First, the Bible presents more than ample room for interpretation of ancient texts allowing slave owners justify taking slaves, including a manual outlining treatment of slaves. Secondly, not only was the Bible used for physically owning slaves, it provided blue print for making slaves dependent upon religion for a means of escape into the supernatural freedom of the hereafter where they would receive their reward.

---

[1] Kevin White (2002). An Introduction to the Sociology of Health and Illness. Sage Publications. p. 41. ISBN 0761964002. http://books.google.com/books?id=5bHxQBNWGHMC&pg=PA41&sig=inUJXRr5_kxRNnvEQ7rrz67wKmg

[2] Arthur L. Caplan, James J. McCartney, and Dominic A. Sisti (2004). Health, Disease, and Illness: Concepts in Medicine. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. p. 2. ISBN 1589010140.

[3] Pilgrim, David (November 2005). "Question of the Month: Drapetomania". Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia. http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/question/nov05.htm. Retrieved on 2007-10-04

[4] Cartwright, Samuel A. (1851). "Report on the Diseases and Peculiarities of the Negro Race". DeBow's Review XI. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h3106t.html. Retrieved on 4 October 2007.

[5] Ibid

[6]Caplan et al, p. 291. 

[7] Baynton, Douglas C. "Disability and the Justification of Inequality in American History". The New Disability History: American Perspectives, 2001.

[8] Cartwright, Samuel A. Diseases and Pecularities of the Negro Race. 1851.

[9]  Cartwright, Samuel A. (1851). "Diseases and Peculiarities of the Negro Race".DeBow's Review XI. Retrieved 16 November 2011.

[10] Vanessa Jackson, An Early History - African American Mental Health

[11] Cartwright, Samuel A. (1851). "Report on the Diseases and Peculiarities of the Negro Race". DeBow's Review XI. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h3106t.html. Retrieved on 4 October 2007.

[12] Caplan et al, p. 35.

[13] Paul Finkelman (1997). Slavery & the Law. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 305. ISBN 0742521192. http://books.google.com/books?id=1YI0DvuukxkC&pg=PA305&sig=U1-5etwEyyiR5t4-HcLsM2gGWIE

[14]Rick Halpern, Enrico Dal Lago (2002). Slavery and Emancipation. Blackwell Publishing. p. 273. ISBN 0631217355. http://books.google.combooks?id=svaQthjrcf0C&pg=RA1-PA273&sig=BuyUaEXNumrkqdvdpvtSh0P4CyU.

A Biblical Defense of Slavery

A few days ago I completed a particularly distasteful task of reading a book that defended American slavery based on "biblical" evidence and opinion considered to be factual. Trying to read the interminable 590 page tract from a point of neutrality never was a consideration. I expected to read a long list of apologetics, justifications and excuses for the enslavement of other human beings and I was not disappointed.

Although the book attempts to establish a certain degree of scholarly acumen, it is mired in biblical biology, superstition and interpretation that makes the ownership of entire families of slaves not only acceptable, but judicial by designating it as an imperial command from the judge, jury and executioner. From today's vantage point, the book is one long and absurd justification of slave trafficking, but in 1850 it probably helped slave owner hold even more tightly to what they considered their "rightly possessions."

The books title, "Bible Defence of Slavery Or the Origins, History, and Fortunes of the Negro Race As Deduced from History, both Sacred and Profane, Their Natural Relations--Moral, Mental, and Physical—to the Other Races of Mankind, Compared and Illustrated—Their Future Destiny Predicted, Etc." written by Josiah Priest in 1851, is a mixture clouded logic, superstition and delusion. For me, it was little more than a profane and slanderous recitation of ignorance of science, superstition and racial arrogance.

For instance, in the Bible Adam and Eve are parents to all mankind, but not in the author's interpretation. According to the author, there was only one race and Negroes were the offspring of Ham, Noah's black son. The claims that until then all of the children of Adam and Eve were "red" or the "hue" of copper. Somehow and for some reason God decides that one of Noah's would be white and one black. So, Noah and his wife were the mother and father of mankind as the rest of all living things would die in the great flood. This more than once, according to the author who also claims that Jesus, although born of a Hebrew or "red" mother, was white.

There many opportunities for laughter in the book, but I couldn't bring even a smile to my face despite the utter silliness and crackpot nature of its writer. Priest gained some notoriety as a writer during the first half of the 19th century. Although he possessed no formal education, Priest passed himself off as an authority on a variety of subjects, including biblical exegesis and biology. In fact, he earned dubious distinction as one of the creators of pseudoscientific literature.

As part of my ongoing course of Religious Justifications, reading Priest's interminable tract was distasteful, but at times humorous with its illogical thought, which is still in use today on a variety of subjects that have nothing to do with this review. Nevertheless, Priest's depiction of slavery as God's will and judicial covenant runs throughout the book as recurrent themes. Prieist is not alone in using holy writ to justify some of the most heinous acts in the name of religion , he is just one who wasted more than 500 pages on stupidity and pure idiocy to do it.

As I read each page of overt racism and Godly justification of the human holocaust known as slavery, I couldn't help thinking of distant ancestors and relatives that I never knew who suffered because of avarice and execrations. The few, I knew were old and shared what they could with a young boy during the end of Jim Crow. As repugnant as I found the book, as an African American, it brought a subject that met my consideration numerous times and that is, the apparent affinity the black community has with a religion used to enslave.

I guess that is another topic altogether, but the use of the Bible to enslave African men and women is readily apparent in Priest's racist bilge. Nevertheless, for those unfamiliar with one of the most despicable and horrific acts ever envisioned and acted out, Priest's book provides a glimpse of the mentality used to justify the bondage of other human beings.

Yes, Black Scientist

When it comes to studying the reaches of the galaxies, NASA takes the lead. Using some of the most powerful tools available, NASA scientist gain insights into the formation of stars in space. Now, they’re sharing a rare opportunity for teachers from across the country to be a part of their learning mission. Recently, Ira Harden was one of 26 U.S. educators selected for research flights aboard SOFIA, NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. As participants in the Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program, the educators collaborated with professional astronomers using SOFIA for scientific observations in 2012 and 2013.

SOFIA, NASA’s flying observatory is a very specialized Boeing 747 plane houses a high-powered infrared telescope and flies above the moisture barrier to gather data from space. Using SOFIA, NASA scientist collect infrared images of our solar system and stars.

The observatory enables the analysis of infrared light to study the formation of stars and planets; chemistry of interstellar gases; composition of comets, asteroids and planets; and supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies“Infrared telescope is able to concentrate on things cooler than stars like stars that are forming planets that are forming and so on,"said Dana Backman,  manager of SOFIA’s education and public outreach program.

Onboard an eight-hour mission flight above the Pacific,Harden and other teachers gathered data to use in personalized experiments for their students.

“The students will be extremely excited about it to know more about what goes on in the universe,” said Ira Harden, who is a chemistry and physics teacher from City Honors College Preparatory in Inglewood, CA. Harden is famous among his students for his science rap videos, Harden’s not new to experimental learning methods.

“The students will be extremely excited about it to know more about what goes on in the universe,” said Harden. Before his selection, Harden was in an article on TakePart.com titled, Clip of the Day: Teacher Raps His Way Through Chemistry Lessons. The article said that Ira makes stoichiometry cool for his high school chemistry class at City Honors College Preparatory Charter School by rapping about it.

Everyone Needs a Club House

We had the clubhouse of clubhouses. It had two floors, multiple rooms and closets. Our parents warned us about going in there, but what did parents know other than how to ruin some fun. Just because the ceiling sagged, broken glass littered the floor and the hard wood floors had lost their hardness years long ago, it still had all the requirements of a great secret clubhouse.

Even though our parents repeatedly told us to stay away from the house, we went any way. A clubhouse worth its salt required certain items like maps, secret codes, secret pledges, secret entrances, escape routes and rituals only club members could know. Of course, we had the traditional secret handshakes, eye winks and passwords even though every kid on the block was a member.

In the summer, we held meetings everyday to discuss what shenanigans we would pull like throwing dirt clods over the rooftops to hit Old Man Jones' house. Sometimes, we'd do the same thing to Paul Everette. He had only one leg and we like to make him get up or cuss.

When the dirt hit his roof he'd let out long strings of invective. "You goddam kids. I'm going to get out of this chair and come whip all your narrow asses." It'd be dark. but we'd take off through the weeds laughing as only stupid kids can.

Our club only had a few rules, but one specific rule was no candles without a water bucket. We learned through visual experience. My older brother, Paul Bradley and Fred Brown used a rickety tool shed behind the Bradley's garage. Of course, we were not allowed access. Not being permitted to enter their clubhouse probably saved me from a serious ass-whipping.

To this day I remember Paul, Poone and Fuzzy tumbling out of their clubhouse with a trail of smoke behind them. We knew what happened almost immediately because peeped through the cracks and watched as they whispered over a lit candle. In addition to tools, the shed was stacked from ceiling to floor with old dried out newspapers.

The smoke quickly turned fire when they came tumbling out. Someone brought a water hose but the stream was so weak it didn't clear shoe leather. Long story short, the fire department came and extinguished the fire, but not the flames that jumped from backyard ass-whippings.

That never happened to us. We were hit by a parental raid. Only four days after we commandeered our compound, the parent police swooped down on us like birds of prey. Our cover was blown. Someone sold us out. I was sure it was one of the girls we didn't allow to join.

When the parents showed up, they called for us by name. Now, the scurry began. Some of us went out the downstairs windows only to be scooped up by a waiting parent. Some hid in the houses many rooms only to give after considering the consequences. However, our evacuation wasn't without humor.

Freddy Anderson was one that decided hiding was a better way to go rather than coming out. I was standing next to my mother and father when we saw Freddy hide behind a closet door. Unfortunately for him, while his attention focused on the door, his mother looked at his back directly through the closet window.

Troy Wilson provided entertainment for even the parents as he used our secret escape route to vanish into the weeds unseen. Troy chose to use our upstairs escape route, which consisted of several sheets tied together like a rope and nailed to the window ledge.

We all watched in awe as Troy flew out the window, grabbed the escape rope and plummeted to the ground still holding the unattached sheets in his hands. It was a sight to see. For a moment we thought Troy might fly, but ultimately he lacked the tools.

Needless to say, ass-whippings were the order of the day, plus, all of us were on restriction. They tore the house down the following year and the one thing that still stands out in my mind is Troy flying through the air clasping that unattached sheet rope.