The Mission
by
Dr. Gale Ragan-Reid (9/30/2013)
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21, King James Version [The effects of Paul's bonds].
Greetings in the grace of Christ Jesus,
Will you die for me? This powerful revelation, made manifest, in Christ Jesus, awakened our soul to salvation. Many like-minded, in faith, passed through the gates, of faith, to life everlasting. “Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in” (Isaiah 26:2, KJV [Exhortation to confidence in God]).
In, 2005, on the 25th day of October, at 8:52 PM, I received an email from my dear friend, Terry V. Percy, who was more than an attorney because he loved business and he was an educator. He was in stormy weather, in the city of Miami, Florida, down south in the suburbs. He said,“Here I am sitting on my patio, 8pm, the 2nd full day of no power. Sitting in the dark, with my transistor, my laptop and my Nicaraguan cigar, gazing off in the dark, with only the stars and the cell phone towers breaking up a vast sea of blackness”. I replied to his email,
“I love you. Sometimes, the process of life
required that you walked on water and kept your
eyes on Jesus. Do not lose faith. I tell my sons this
because the pressures and stresses of life's
unfairness might in the end, work for all our good,
when the big picture – macro view, revealed
God's plan, for us all.”
I did not realize the storm that Attorney Terry Percy, was in, that day, actually opened up the storms, of his life, for it was not too long before the gates of perdition, revealed what happened in the past, in the Mississippi Delta, the land of his birth, the unspoken truth that he hid from me, even me, his dear friend. You see, Dateline NBC News, anchor Lester Holt rumbled in the archives of documentaries and found an unsung hero, Booker T. Wright. A man, who did not appear in the history books but to whom, the Civil Rights struggle would forever be grateful to, for he candidly spoke truth of black and white relations, in the Mississippi Delta during the Civil Rights resistance in the 1960's. Also, a man, who lived just 54 miles, from where Attorney Terry Percy, grew up in Mississippi.
God sent Lester Holt, Inside Dateline, in the archives of NBC NEWS. My friend, still did not speak of it, when the “Legacy of Booker Wright, waiter murdered after speaking out on 'whites only' restaurant in Mississippi, aired on NBC News Dateline, anchored by Lester Holt, in 2012. Perhaps, Terry did not say anything because of the effect of the 1966 documentary, “Mississippi: A Self-Portrait” by Dateline NBC News that forever changed the life of a Mississippi man, Booker T. Wright and eventually, caused one of his own folks, to take his life. In the rumblings of the storm in 2005 emerged NBC News search, back in the archives of documentaries and also Raymond De Felitta's search, back in the archives of his father, Frank De Felitta 's films. How could a man's story of truth awaken a town, to the point, of unbelief, in good faith and good neighbor, so much until a neighbor, took the life of the man, who revealed his truth?
Well, there goes free speech, in America and respect for the United States Constitution, for Civil Rights, was merely talk and when the talk became practice, let us say, all hell broke loose in the town of Greenwood, Mississippi. Now, Greenwood, Mississippi, was about 54 miles north of Greenville, Mississippi, where Attorney Terry V. Percy, grew up. And, in the spring of 1965, when the filmmaker,
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Frank De Felitta, came and dug up the souls, of the unspoken, in search of the truth, from the white leadership of Greenwood, he ended up getting the truth from a descendant, of slaves. It was a perilous time in the Civil Rights struggle and Attorney Terry Percy, was 18 years old, ready to leave home to go to any university of his choice, for he grew up, under the teachings of the Seventh Day Adventist, reading the bible, from cover to cover,and gained a lot of knowledge, to tow.
Attorney Percy chose a university in Alabama and left the rumblings of the nearby town. I searched a map, an internet tool and found the directions, from Attorney Terry Percy's town to Greenwood. The search said: “
“Start out going north on MS – 1/Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. Boulevard (Blvd), for 0.05 miles.
Take the first right onto US – 82 E/US -278E.
Continue to follow US – 82E, for 52.8 miles.
Merge onto Main Street, for 1.2 miles. Welcome
to GREENWOOD, MS.”
I knew it had to be close but I did not think it was that close, to Attorney Terry V. Percy's town.
I am more sure than not, he read, Ephesians 2:13-15, KJV [The great love of Christ], “But now in Christ Jesus ye who were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;” However, there could be no peace, in Greenwood and the new man, made of and in Booker T. Wright, was destined to die, for his truth.
In 2006, Valentine's weekend, Attorney Terry V. Percy and I met in Atlanta, Georgia and he wanted me to continue on with him on his journey to his hometown, in Mississippi. It sounded like a good idea, until he spoke of back roads, we needed to take that still were not on the map, we looked at, to plan our travel. Those missing roads from the map, were the same roads I needed to take to get back to my state of Georgia when we separated and he went back to Florida. The thought of it was too terrifying to me, as I reflected on just the history of his state of Mississippi and the deaths of those who went there, for voter's rights and visits, for me to travel back alone on the missing roads that did not even appear on any map, at least not the map, we searched. He became upset because I slipped away, without telling him and returned to my neck of the woods in deep southwestern Georgia.
I regret not taking courage to go see, his past, the unspoken truth that he still did not tell me but wanted to show me. Now, as I watched Lester Holt's Dateline documentary, I reflected on my decision made in 2006, during Valentine's weekend. The story unraveled in 2012 about the filmmaker, Frank De Felitta, who ventured the production of a documentary to discover “white attitudes towards race in the American South and the tensions of life in the Mississippi Delta in the civil rights” era (Dateline NBC News, 2012). I thought what an interesting concept but quite deadly, indeed, in times of resistance to truth. Those folks, in Mississippi, did not want to become a new man in Christ Jesus, as much as the white leadership worked outwardly to be what they said, their inward nature, their spirit, was not with change.
Ephesians 3:6, KJV [The great love of Christ] said, “That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:” Why they could barely stand, to hear of the feelings, of a man; his truth? How could they honestly in all sincerity say they wanted improvement in relationships between themselves, black and whites? Obviously, it was a false course, so how could they run it and press toward the mark, the high calling of Christ Jesus? Let us suffice it to say, some of those folks, were, indeed, without God and resisted the teachings of Christ, in which they decided to stay in the practices of Jim Crow and Jane Crow, post slavery tradition created to keep
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descendants of slaves, in oppression. It was sort of hard for dogs to stop their tails from uncontrollably swinging from the left to the right, when their heads still looked back, in the past, contented to stay in the past, to accept the new life, Christ Jesus offered, of grace, salvation from death.
Christ Jesus, said, “Follow me.” I looked at the sign of the town, as they played the documentary and read, “Established in 1844”. Greenwood was not a new town, with refreshing concepts, it was an old town buried in the past. The white leadership felt they were doing real well for the black folks, in their town. Why the Tallahatchie Flats, the old sharecroppers' cabins, were given new life, as tourist lodgings, which held significance to the white leadership's efforts to bring about improvement in race relationships? The Dateline report showed Raymond De Felitta and David Zellerford's discussion, about the sharecropper's cabins.
Attorney Terry V. Percy, was a descendant of sharecropper's and he did not speak about it, at all; not the improvement of the sharecropper's cabins in the nearby town, of Greenwood or the friendly nature of white leadership, in restaurants. Booker T. Wright, did not speak about the improvements made to the cabins and he viewed the friendly nature in the restaurant, Lusco as less than appealing, for his return smile, was a smile of survival, to keep a job, not a smile of honest acknowledgment of friendship. He said, “The meaner the person was that came in the restaurant, the more he smiled.” (Dateline, NBC NEWS, 2012). In fact, Attorney Terry Percy, during the time of storm, at his Miami home spoke words, of his neighbors, “The background noise consisted of the roar of the generators of my selfish neighbors, basking in their dim light...” In reflection, I think perhaps those words, were rooted and seeded in his perceptions, of the Mississippi Delta and the acceptance of Booker T. Wright's truth.
However, the white leadership, of Greenwood, just could not understand why they still were not getting it right, in the eyes, of their community, the communities-at-large, and the world communities. They did not understand why the arm of judgment came against them; those who wanted to know what was the problem, in the Mississippi Delta and why they could not resolve their own problem amongst themselves, in their community? We know God did not trust Adam to live near the tree of life because of what he did in the Garden of Eden, to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, after he was forbidden? It was still a question of trust. The difficulties of improving relationships resonated in the issue, of trust in the Garden of Eden, in the time of Adam and Eve and in the Mississippi Delta, in the time of the Civil Rights era.
Jesus broke down the middle wall of partition between us and God by Christ Jesus, on the cross. Ephesians 2:16, KJV [The great love of Christ] said “And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:” This truth, did not glorify God, in Greenwood, for they would not even let Frank De Felitta, the filmmaker, interview Booker T. Wright, in their establishment (white restaurant), Lusco. Booker T. Wright, welcomed Frank De Felitta, in his establishment, on the black side of town, to interview him. So, truly, the relationships, of blacks and whites, in the town of Greenwood, how they saw it, for what it was, was not actually, what it was.
Booker T. Wright, told Frank De Felitta, as he filmed, “I do not want my children to experience what I am going through.” How could anyone, in the world-at-large, not understand this feeling, since he could not even participate in an interview at the same white restaurant that catered to the white leadership, of town, to talk about the disparities in race relationships? Deception reigned, in the hearts and minds, of those folks, in leadership; apparently so, deception manifested in double-mindedness and two-facedness. It was hard to tell, what power they truly wanted, to reign there, for the dark forces of deception could not abide in the light yet deception, was there. In 2005, when Attorney Percy sat in the darkness of the storm, he said, “I am able to contemplate the universe, all of the dumb things I did this year and all of the things I intend to do in the future.”
Obviously, the film maker interviewed the white leadership at Lusco but when he said, he wanted to interview the waiter, he had to leave the Lusco, white establishment, to do so. One white
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gentleman, he interviewed said he thought he was a friend to Booker T. Wright and became angry, since the documentary aired, when he heard, his true feelings, about the smile, he gave him, each time, he came to the restaurant. How could anyone imagine in their heart of hearts, their inner thoughts that a working smile, truly was sincere? Surely, most people desired a sincere smile when they gave a smile but the truth was, some smiles, were not sincere, when a person worked; it was just a working smile.
Booker T. Wright, was at least able to get them to smile, back at him, so in some ways, perhaps the white gentleman felt he won some small feat, over him and now he wanted to disclaim his smile, since he found out he did not win him over with a sincere smile. It was the same deception that they used against the descendants of slaves that the children of slaves, gave back to them. However, why did his own folks get so upset, other than because some of them, too, pretended friendship and now they had to prove their sincerity of feelings to the white leadership, by killing Booker T. Wright, for telling the world, he was not happy, and gave the white leadership a dishonest smile to get them to smile back at him, when he greeted them at the white restaurant, Lusco. Do you mean to say, Booker T. Wright died, over a smile? They were not in the peace, of Christ Jesus.
The storm of 2005 opened up the solace, in Terry Percy's heart. He said, “So much solace as I turn up my transistor to hear Smokey Robinson take my mind off that incessant noise.” If, the white gentleman felt betrayal of a smile, then, why was the smile of those who truly were near and dear to him, not enough comfort or consolation? Why did they kill Booker T. Wright, for a deceptive smile? When, I think back, in reflection of the slave stories, I do not think every slave was a happy slave.
In fact, when I came to this neck of the woods, in southwestern Georgia, everyone incessantly laughed, in the grocery stores, out on the streets, everywhere, in town and I do not think they were doing so because they were happy, all the time. It seemed to be a culture. One day, I inquired why to the store manager and he said they preferred they laughed, so they knew they were well? What a correlation? It was a false correlation because they did not inquire if they were, indeed, well, then, they knew they were well; they assumed they were well because of the incessant laughter, just as Terry presumed his neighbors were in better stead than himself because of the incessant noise of the generator.
Nowadays, in storms, many folks that used generators died in their sleep. We always think the grass is greener on the other side. And, if the grass was greener in Greenwood then, why did Booker T. Wright deny that fact? Maybe, it was not a fact, just the same deception they received from their white leadership and finally, Booker T. Wright, decided not to trust the smile, anymore. Most importantly, we found, from the facts of this story that the realization of a false smile, made the white leadership of Greenwood, feel uneasy about the success they worked for in race relationships and the false smile made them feel that Booker T. Wrights' truth confession sabotaged the future of their works and forced them to reexamine their intent, for their smile, in sincerity of heart. Attorney Percy said, “In a month from now, I'll look back on these two days and smile... and swear that as soon as those frigging generators come on sale, I'll be ready for the next power outage.”
Booker T. Wright's granddaughter, Yvette Johnson (daughter of a NFL player), went back with filmmaker, Frank De Felitta's son, Raymond, to the Mississippi Delta, to see her grandfather's restaurant club, where he was killed one night. He was known for being a man who loved to dance, so he did experience some moments when he smiled. He just wanted them to know when it was all said and done, he liked to use his free will to smile or not to smile, with sincerity. He practiced and used his civil rights, in a time, when the use of such rights, were at great risk, to life and liberty. Attorney Percy ended, his stormy night, of 2005 and said, “Then, I can write about my Direct TV, my blues DVD, my laptop and cigar.” In sincerity of heart and mind and in the peace of Christ Jesus as a new man, it was nice to feel, you could engage in choices, for your future.
Mr. Percy died August 14, 2013, a free man. Amen. Amen. May the grace of Christ be with you.
