OXFORD TOWN

Something astonishing is happening right now, Sen. John McSame and Sen. Barack Obama, the two major candidate for President of the United States (POTUS), are engaged in a debate. That's normal before an election; in fact, it has become a tradition. What is astounding, at least to me, is the location.

University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi. Hardly anyone seems to remember what happened there in 1962, 46 years ago. Along time? I suppose that depends on your perspective. I was ten years old at the time, just at the dawn of my political awareness.

Does anyone remember James Meredith?


He was the first Negro/Coloured/Black/African American to try to become a student at Ole Miss, as the University was - and still is - known. Bob Dylan wrote a song about this, Oxford Town. The paragraph under the song is from a website about the integration of Ol' Miss. It's worth looking at.

Oxford Town

Oxford Town, Oxford Town
Ev'rybody's got their heads bowed down
The sun don't shine above the ground
Ain't a-goin' down to Oxford Town

He went down to Oxford Town
Guns and clubs followed him down
All because his face was brown
Better get away from Oxford Town

Oxford Town around the bend
He come in to the door, he couldn't get in
All because of the color of his skin
What do you think about that, my frien'?

Me and my gal, my gal's son
We got met with a tear gas bomb
I don't even know why we come
Goin' back where we come from

Oxford Town in the afternoon
Ev'rybody singin' a sorrowful tune
Two men died 'neath the Mississippi moon
Somebody better investigate soon

Oxford Town, Oxford Town
Ev'rybody's got their heads bowed down
The sun don't shine above the ground
Ain't a-goin' down to Oxford Town

Copyright ©1963; renewed 1991 Special Rider Music

In the fall of 1962 the college town of Oxford, Mississippi, erupted in violence. At the center of the controversy stood James Meredith, an African American who was attempting to register at the all-white University of Mississippi, known as "Ole Miss." Meredith had the support of the federal government, which insisted that Mississippi honor the rights of all its citizens, regardless of race. Mississippi's refusal led to a showdown between state and federal authorities and the storming of the campus by a segregationist mob. Two people died and dozens were injured. In the end, Ole Miss, the state of Mississippi, and the nation were forever changed.

Indeed, 'the nation was changed forever.' Tonight, at this same Ol' Miss, two men, two Senators vying for the highest elected office in the land are debating and one of them is an African American. Who wudda thought?

I am not overlooking the problems still existing with regards to race in this country. They are here and they are big. As I am married to an African American, I know they exist and are real. However, this is indicative of some real improvement, some real progress. I never hesitate to point out what's wrong in this country. I just feel like pointing out this one instance of some progress.

How much has Mississppi actually changed? I remember another song from this era, one that is very instructive. (If you're tired of my old songs, you have my permission to skip this one, but it really is a good song.) Here's To The State Of Mississippi by the great Phil Ochs.

Here's to the state of Mississippi,
For Underheath her borders, the devil draws no lines,
If you drag her muddy river, nameless bodies you will find.
Whoa the fat trees of the forest have hid a thousand crimes,
The calender is lyin' when it reads the present time.
Whoa here's to the land you've torn out the heart of,
Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of!

Here's to the people of Mississippi
Who say the folks up north, they just don't understand
And they tremble in their shadows at the thunder of the Klan
The sweating of their souls can't wash the blood from off their hands
They smile and shrug their shoulders at the murder of a man
Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of
Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of

Here's to the schools of Mississippi
Where they're teaching all the children that they don't have to care
All of rudiments of hatred are present everywhere
And every single classroom is a factory of despair
There's nobody learning such a foreign word as fair
Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of
Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of

Here's to the cops of Mississippi
They're chewing their tobacco as they lock the prison door
Their bellies bounce inside them as they knock you to the floor
No they don't like taking prisoners in their private little war
Behind their broken badges there are murderers and more
Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of
Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of

And, here's to the judges of Mississippi
Who wear the robe of honor as they crawl into the court
They're guarding all the bastions with their phony legal fort
Oh, justice is a stranger when the prisoners report
When the black man stands accused the trial is always short
Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of
Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of

And here's to the government of Mississippi
In the swamp of their bureaucracy they're always bogging down
And criminals are posing as the mayors of the towns
They're hoping that no one sees the sights and hears the sounds
And the speeches of the governor are the ravings of a clown
Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of
Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of

And here's to the laws of Mississippi
Congressmen will gather in a circus of delay
While the Constitution is drowning in an ocean of decay
Unwed mothers should be sterilized, I've even heard them say
Yes, corruption can be classic in the Mississippi way
Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of
Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of

And here's to the churches of Mississippi
Where the cross, once made of silver, now is caked with rust
And the Sunday morning sermons pander to their lust
The fallen face of Jesus is choking in the dust
Heaven only knows in which God they can trust
Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of
Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of

God knows we still have a long way to go, but at least a step or two has been taken. "We ain't what we could be; we ain't what we should be; we ain't what we would be; but, Praise God! We ain't what we were!"

--
WHY TRY TO FIT IN? YOU WERE BORN TO STAND OUT!

At Last! Freedom From Corporate Amerika

I have a new possession. Those of you who know me know that I really have little use for most STUFF. Once in a while, though, I really, really, really want something. That happened earlier this year with the Aerogarden, which is really cool.


That was a sort of major thing. I know $250 isn't a lot of money to most people, but our finances are such that is is a true extravagance to us. Having a lot of money has never been a priority in my life. (Truthfully, though, having enough for a good computer and a high-speed connection would be nice.) As I said, STUFF really is mostly an annoyance to me.

What I wanted this time is a whole lot smaller. Smaller than a bread box.

It happened like this.

My husband absolutely must have rice with his meals. I prefer to have bread of some sort, saving rice as something for special occasions. I love the fragrance of basmati rice

filling the house on holidays; I would like to keep that aroma associated with specialness. (Is it my imagination, or has something happened to basmati rice? GMO, maybe? The smell just doesn't permeate the whole house as it used to, and our current house isn't very large.) So, he has his ordinary, long-grain rice - I do manage to save the basmati for celebrations - and I usually eat flour tortillas.

I know I should make roti, chapattis,

but they really should be round and it just takes too much effort with my one good hand.

One day, the tortillas turned out to be moldy! Yeach! What to do?

With the miracle of the Internet, I found several thousand recipes for flour tortillas, all pretty much the same, actually. I mixed the whole wheat flour, baking powder, oil (I don't use hydrogenated shortening and I most certainly don't use the more traditional lard.), salt and water. Then I kneaded it as instructed, formed into balls, placed each ball between two plastic sheets and pressed down with a cutting board. Next I cooked them. An easy enough process, but not very satisfying. Oh, the result was delicious, much better than that processed junk from the store, but there was something about the process I used that I just didn't like. Making these using this method each day was time-consuming and tedious.

I decided I needed a tortilla press.

Now the purchase of anything in our home is always a negotiation. (Yawn.) I first found a suitable press at a store nearby, cheap, too, at $8.99. They run about $20.00 on line. So I made my case and eventually prevailed. Now I am the proud owner of a genuine 'Hecho en Mexico' (it says so right on the top!) tortilla press. This is a very simple machine: two metal discs hinged together with a handle that acts as a lever to flatten the dough. It cuts the working time into about a third. Of course, unlike chapattis, flour tortillas don't need to be perfectly round; in fact, even the commercial ones are always a bit odd shaped. And I feel myself the latest in a centuries old tradition of tortilla making. I see thousands of Mayan women doing it just like I do, well, not exactly, I guess.

I cheat. I dump all the ingredients into my electric bread machine (purchased at Goodwill, of course - reduce, re-use, re-cycle and cheap!),

set it on 'dough,' and let it go for about ten minutes. Then I roll the dough into a rope and snip it with my kitchen scissors. Then I use my tortilla press.

Sometimes I make corn tortillas, too. They usually come out closer to round.

And I have achieved another small measure of freedom from corporate America.

(I am so effing sick of politics. And the economy. Lehman Bros., Merrill-Lynch, AIG, and locally, WaMu. Still... )

BLAME BUSH! BLAME THE REPUBLICANS! VOTE OBAMA! (Do I really believe that'll change things? Stay tuned for my answer.)