"Dublin Core:Title","Dublin Core:Subject","Dublin Core:Description","Dublin Core:Creator","Dublin Core:Source","Dublin Core:Publisher","Dublin Core:Date","Dublin Core:Contributor","Dublin Core:Rights","Dublin Core:Relation","Dublin Core:Format","Dublin Core:Language","Dublin Core:Type","Dublin Core:Identifier","Dublin Core:Coverage","Item Type Metadata:Text","Item Type Metadata:Interviewer","Item Type Metadata:Interviewee","Item Type Metadata:Location","Item Type Metadata:Transcription","Item Type Metadata:Local URL","Item Type Metadata:Original Format","Item Type Metadata:Physical Dimensions","Item Type Metadata:Duration","Item Type Metadata:Compression","Item Type Metadata:Producer","Item Type Metadata:Director","Item Type Metadata:Bit Rate/Frequency","Item Type Metadata:Time Summary","Item Type Metadata:Email Body","Item Type Metadata:Subject Line","Item Type Metadata:From","Item Type Metadata:To","Item Type Metadata:CC","Item Type Metadata:BCC","Item Type Metadata:Number of Attachments","Item Type Metadata:Standards","Item Type Metadata:Objectives","Item Type Metadata:Materials","Item Type Metadata:Lesson Plan Text","Item Type Metadata:URL","Item Type Metadata:Event Type","Item Type Metadata:Participants","Item Type Metadata:Birth Date","Item Type Metadata:Birthplace","Item Type Metadata:Death Date","Item Type Metadata:Occupation","Item Type Metadata:Biographical Text","Item Type Metadata:Bibliography","Item Type Metadata:Player","Item Type Metadata:Imported Thumbnail","Item Type Metadata:Referrer",tags,file,itemType,collection,public,featured "Where Dreams Were Made and Humanistic Visions Forged",,"Throughout their son’s childhood, Stephen Hall’s parents, both children of sharecroppers, crafted a “deeply humanistic perch” from which he could “view the world.” Though possessing none of the benefits of class or race privilege, they harnessed the power of the book, searching for what historian Isabel Wilkerson has called “the light of other suns” in the “recesses of their minds.” Their personal library—including the Bible, Encyclopedia Britannica, and the Great Books—stoked young Hall’s imagination. The harmonies of musicians, such as Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, played alongside images of athletes like Muhammad Ali. The ritual of accompanying his parents to vote in local, state, and national elections deepened a conviction: being humanistic entails civic engagement.",,,,,"Stephen G. Hall, Alcorn State University",,,,,,hall-humanistic-visions,,,,,,"
It seems from my early consciousness, the humanities were an ever-present part of my being. The son of sharecropper's children, neither which possessed a high school education, they crafted a deeply humanistic perch from which I could view the world. From Durham and Salzburg, North Carolina, respectfully, the search for what Isabel Wilkerson has called the ""light of the suns"" resided in the conscious and unconscious recesses of their mind.
Possessing none of the benefits of class, race, and gender privilege, my mother harnessed the power of a book. A small library composed of encyclopedias, great books, contemporary literature and magazines, nestled in the study between the living room and master bedroom.
In the den, this middle space, where I did my homework daily, was where dreams were made and humanistic visions forged. It seems that all that would come was previewed there. A close reading of the Bible, deep droughts from the wells of encyclopedia Britannica, the great books and great performances, from Bach to Berlin.
My father cultivated in me his love of politics and sport. In the basement, he regaled us with Isaac Hayes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and the Whisperers on 8-track tapes. As we basked in the melodic cadences of the songs, Mohammed Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, James Foreman, or Tommy Hickman Herms, or Leonard Spinx could be seen on the console television, weaving their pugilistic magic in the ring.
If the basement and study, upper and lower rooms, represented two distinct poles of reality, then the kitchen served as the temple to politics. There my father read the newspaper and watched the nightly news. It was his insistence that politics mattered, which fueled my subsequent interest in political conventions. I watched my first political convention in 1976, and I continue to do so up to the present day.
Convinced that being humanistic entailed civic engagement, my parents always took my brother and I with them to vote in local, state and national elections. It was a ritual of sorts. We obligingly piled into our old 1968 Pontiac Bonneville, arriving at Campville Elementary School, our neighborhood polling place in Baltimore County, Maryland. Once there, they would park the car on the road, and we would watch them make their way through a gauntlet of poll workers, who showered them with campaign literature of one sort or another. Undaunted, they proceeded into the polling place, and stayed for what seemed an eternity. Emerging together as if they had crossed the finish line of a marathon, we could see the exhilaration and the importance of this act.
It was a logical extension of the humanistic constructs in our home. Contact in eventful and uneventful ways, my upbringing among organic intellectuals, a Gramscian designation would surely apply to my parents, shaped my interests in direct and indirect ways.
By the mid-80s, armed with a deeper and more informed sense of my racial sense and my humanistic responsibility, I too became involved in political campaign. As election day approached, we received our poll assignments. My assignment was none other than Campville Elementary School. I arrived early to my post on election day. A lean, lanky boy of 17, I was wise in the arts of politics, canvassing and poll work. The voters came slowly, and then steadily, through the gauntlet of poll workers who handed them literature, and generally cajoled and prodded them to vote for one candidate or the other. All the faces seemed to blur, until I looked across the yard and saw my parents, parking in their familiar place and proceeding to the gauntlet. As my parents proceeded, I felt the weight of the years passing before me, remembering my passive position watching my parents, and present one as an active participant. Now, in our reverse roles, all was clear. As they approached, I beamed with pride. I hugged them, and gleefully announced and introduced them to the assembled throng as my parents.
I knew in that moment all the years of watching, listening, engaging, thinking in our den and basement and kitchen had prepared me for this moment. A moment electric with the preparation of the past, the participatory urgency of the present, and the humanistic possibilities of the future.
",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"",,,"Ali, Muhammad,Bach, Johann Sebastian,Baltimore County, Maryland,Berlin, Irving,Black History,Books & Reading,Citizenship,Gaye, Marvin,Hayes, Isaac,Hearn, Thomas ""Tommy"",Leonard, ""Sugar"" Ray,Literature,Music,Parent & Child,Professors,Ross, Diana,The Bible,Voting,Wonder, Stevie",http://humanitiesmoments.org/files/original/8/170/African_American_voter_registration_1960s.jpg,Sound,"National Humanities Center Fellows",1,0 "Sacrifices and the Consequences of Dissent",,"Muhammad Ali was drafted into the Vietnam War in 1966. Ali did not believe in fighting in the war and he was willing to sacrifice everything based on those principles. “My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America,” he said. “And shoot them for what? They never called me nigger, they never lynched me, they didn’t put no dogs on me, they didn’t rob me of my nationality, rape and kill my mother and father. … Shoot them for what? How can I shoot them poor people? There are only two kinds of men,” Ali continued, “those who compromise and those who take a stand.” Ali told Pacifica Radio he was “proud to say that I am the first man in the history of all America, athlete and entertainer-wise, who gave up all the white man’s money, looked the white man in the eye, and told him the truth, and stayed with his people."" Ali was sentenced to 5 years in jail, fined $10,000, stripped of his title and lost his boxing license for 3 years at the height of his career. In spite of detrimental and pervasive consequences, he sacrificed his way of life to stand strong in his beliefs. The theme of “sacrifice” permeates every aspect of the history of contested territories. All the people involved, no matter what their nationality or culture, made sacrifices related to the contested territory. ",,,,"June 21, 1967","Melissa Barnhouse, 38, exceptional children's teacher",,,,,,sacrifice-consequences-of-dissent,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"NEH: Contested Territories","Ali, Muhammad,Civil Rights,Conscientious Objection,Human Rights,Radio,Sacrifice,Teachers & Teaching,Vietnam War (1961-1975)",http://humanitiesmoments.org/files/original/13/199/mali.jpg,"Still Image","Contested Territory: America’s Role in Southeast Asia, 1945–75",1,0 "The Consequences of War Dissension ",,"The most powerful Humanities Moments for me occurred during William Sturkey’s NEH session entitled “Contested Patriotisms: Dissent and Nationalism on the US Homefront.” One thing that stuck with me was Sturkey’s assertion that “dissention always has consequences.” He then gave Muhammad Ali as an example of how anti-war stance severely affected him on both a personal and professional level. As someone who was not born during this era- coupled with the fact that I’ve had some pretty crappy history teachers- I have to admit that my initial imagery of Muhammad Ali was centralized around him as the G.O.A.T. (Greatest of all time)- a positive reference to his unquestionable domination within the boxing ring, and one that represents the perception of him towards that latter years of his life. (I actually have a Sonny Liston signed copy of the iconic image referenced with this moment hanging in my guest room.) Though I was familiar with Ali’s refusal to participate in the war, I was not familiar with the extent at which he was forced into vocalizing his views, and the unpleasant consequences of such a stance by a well-known black man in the 1960s. Immediately I was interested in further research on dissention surrounding the Vietnam War. But not just from the lens of larger-than-life individuals such Muhammad Ali, but of lesser-known individuals that dissented against the war and how they were affected. Furthermore, I also became intrigued to learn how status effected one’s involvement in the war. One thing I more clearly realized as a result of this session was the extent to which our textbooks focus heavily on the political rhyme or reason of war, and so little on the human impact. This session helped to connect historical puzzle pieces for me that had been left disconnected by my own fragmented historical context. As an educator, it has motivated me to ensure that I focus on the human aspects of any historical events or current issues that I present to my students. ",,,,"7/23/18 NEH Seminar- William Sturkey Session ","Kimberly Perry-Sanderlin, AIG Specialist- Durham Public Schools (NC) ",,,,,,consequence-war-dissension,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"NEH Seminar ","Ali, Muhammad,Conscientious Objection,Dissension,Teachers & Teaching,Vietnam War (1961-1975)",http://humanitiesmoments.org/files/original/13/206/muhammad-ali-572571_1280.jpg,Text,"Contested Territory: America’s Role in Southeast Asia, 1945–75",1,0