H-Block “heroes” deserve their place in history
It brought tears to my eyes to read the stunningly insightful article by Banner publisher Melvin Miller and executive editor Howard Manly on the history of H-Block (“The Original H-Block,” Feb. 15). Thank you for helping us keep our “eyes on the prize” with this wonderful, awesome, exhilarating story of the heroes of the H-Block who, by their contributions at a most difficult time in our history, broke barriers for other generations. It is an article that should be distributed to every family who lives in and around the block so they can understand the hallowed history here and how the recent spate of violence and the perceptions that have been created serve to desecrate that history.
This article stands as another of countless reasons that the Bay State Banner and its editor, Melvin Miller, who grew up in H-Block, is such a valuable community resource in the chronicling of our rich history which runs throughout the city and closer to home, block by block. For those of us who live in the H-Block neighborhood and raise our families here, the article stands as both a testament to the greatness of those who were nurtured here and a poignant reminder of the need for us to work with our children to continue to build upon a legacy of greatness.
Joyce Ferriabough Bolling
Resident of H-Block
Issue of Obama’s race remains open, but is it important?
As I read Pulitzer Prize winner Kenneth J. Cooper’s recent article on Sen. Barack Obama (“Questions about Obama’s race defy logic,” Opinion, Feb. 8, 2007), I can see that race in America will sadly always overshadow all other factors that separate us from one another. We are still far from Dr. King’s America, where the character of one’s heart is more important than the color of their skin.
Is Obama black enough? The author apparently thinks he is. Others, whom Cooper calls “contrarian commentators,” seem to be reading Obama out of the race because of his mixed parentage.
“Mixed parentage” is just another term for multiracial, which Obama is. While Cooper tells readers that Obama’s father is an African from Africa, he goes on to say he had a mother who was white American. Would he happen to know more about Obama’s mother than that? Obama is surely a product of both sides of his family.
Obama can embrace his blackness without dismissing his maternal roots. Surely he is proud of who he is, where he comes from and who all of his forbearers were.
I admittedly have concerns about Obama as a presidential candidate in 2008. But my concerns are about his limited experience, not about his race.
One good thing about Obama is that he is a politician who has the capacity to override race. To him it is personal. He knows who he is, and he is more than just race.
Sal Giarratani
North Quincy
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