"SHE MADE A WAY - PART 3"

 “SHE MADE A WAY” – PART 3

“She Made A Way” is now out and about for reading, review and discussion – get your copy now!  I’d love to come to your church group, community group, or book club to talk about the book.  Central Presbyterian in Atlanta and North Decatur Presbyterian have already scheduled times, and I’ll be glad to schedule one for you.  One of my friends will be hosting a “salon” at her house, inviting friends and family to meet and talk with me about the book. I’ll be glad to do that with you too!  Here’s my friend and colleague Dr. Susan Hylen’s endorsement.  She is Professor of New Testament at Emory University:

“This is a memoir of a man and his mother, but it is also the story of a journey away from the racism that still dominates our country.  Although we often imagine people as either good or bad, racist or ‘woke,’ Nibs Stroupe understands racism to be deeply entrenched in caring people, even those who start to move away from their prejudice.  This rich and honest account moves beyond the simplistic binaries to help us understand the American South – and ourselves – in new ways.”

This book is written in honor of my mother, Mary Armour Stroupe, but also as an answer to a question with which I have long wrestled in my adult life:  How did I – and how do any of us – get caught in the web of racism and sexism and materialism?  How do we get so captured by demonic powers like this?  It is a captivity so deep that it changes the way that we perceive ourselves and perceive the world around us.  It is a captivity that is so subtle that it takes over our hearts long before we know anything about it.  We are taken so deeply into such a captivity because it is given to us by those we love and whom we love.  That is the stark and difficult answer, and this is why so many people who are classified as “white” are in such deep denial about our captivity.  To acknowledge our captivity would be to put ourselves in conflict with those we love, and it is a great price to pay.

This book does not leave us in despair, however.  It offers us hope for beginning to find some liberation from our captivity.  While my mother helped to bind me into this captivity, she also offered me ways to find a different path.  Her love, her compassion, her tenacity, her decency, her sense of fairness – all these factored into the tentative steps that I began to take to find some liberation from my captivity, steps that brought me into tension with her.  

So, go get the book!  You can find it at bookshop.org (the link is https://bookshop.org/p/books/she-made-a-way-mother-and-me-in-a-deep-south-world-nibs-stroupe/21530365?ean=9798385208548), your local bookstore, Amazon, or me.  I’ll be glad to get your comments on it.  And, of course, I’ll be glad to come to any of your groups to do a book talk/signing.  Thanks to our daughter Susan, I now have an author page on Facebook, and here’s the link for that: https://www.facebook.com/nibsstroupeauthor/

"THE DECISIVE WEEKEND"

 “THE DECISIVE WEEKEND”

For over a year, I have been arguing that Joe Biden should not run for re-election because he is simply too old.  The same can be said of Donald Trump, but I have other reasons for not wanting him to run.  How I wish that Nikki Haley had beaten Trump in the primaries. How I wish that President Biden had decided over the Christmas holidays of 2022 that he had saved the country by beating Trump in 2020, and that now it was time to turn over the reins to a younger leader.  I remember a conversation with my friend Ted Smith in late 2022 concerning the 2024 Presidential election.  Trump had already announced that he was running, and given the many opponents, we felt that he was likely to win the primaries and sweep into the nomination.  We so hoped that President Biden would see that the aging monkey was coming for him, but we both felt that his ego was too big to allow it, that he would seek the nomination again.

And now, over the weekend, President Biden has fooled me (and others) by wisely choosing not to stand for re-election.  I am grateful to him for his fine presidency and for his many decades of service to the nation.  It shows the stark contrast between Biden and Trump – Biden put the country’s interest ahead of his own, while Trump continues to put his own interest ahead of the country’s. I am also grateful to President Biden for stepping down, though I wish that he had done so earlier.  I am grateful that he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, and I think that she would be the logical choice.  I don’t think that she is the strongest Democratic candidate, but that is not her fault – she will face deep racism and sexism.  My choice has been Gretchen Whitmer, but that is precluded now by the narrow window of opportunity.

    Assuming that the Democratic party does not continue to shoot itself in the foot, I expect V-P Harris to be the nominee.  Though she does bring liablities, she does generate excitement and hope for defeating Donald Trump.  Harris should choose Josh Shapiro or Andy Beshear or Roy Cooper or Mark Kelly as the VP (again, I prefer Whitmer, but if Harris gets the top spot, there will need to be a white man in the VP slot.)  I’m hoping that the bickering and arguing will now stop, so that the Democratic party can try to build itself up enough to take on the MAGA Donald Trump.  .

As many have said, this is a Presidential election with existential consequences for the future of America. It is hard to believe that so many Republicans have coalesced behind Donald Trump, a grifter superb and now a convicted felon.  That they have done so reminds me of my days growing up in the neo-slavery South.  Demagogues like Orval Faubus, George Wallace, Ross Barnett, Gene Talmadge and others were given so many passes by the white populations of the South, because they held the line on keeping the “black menace” in check.  Well-meaning and good people like my mother kept them in power because they promised to keep the social order of neo-slavery in place.  Trump is making the same appeal, seeking out like a laser our white grievance and deepening it and solidifying it.

I have been comparing this election in 2024 with the 1968 election, in which a sitting President decided not to run for re-election (President Johnson’s decision came late, at the end of March, 1968).  Like this year, political violence rang out, with the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy.  The parallels are striking – a once defeated presidential candidate, Richard Nixon, running for President again, the Democratic convention once again in Chicago, and Robert Kennedy’s son now running on a third party ticket. 

Despite those parallels, though, this 2024 election is now seemingly more similar to the presidential election of 1876, which marked a fundamental turning point in American history and which marked a decisive step away from the civil rights won for Black people in the Civil War.  Because of all the MAGA shenanigans, I am anticipating that the results of the 2024 Presidential election might be given to the House of Representatives to determine the winner, as happened in 1876 because neither Rutherford Hayes nor Samuel Tilden got enough electoral votes to win.  Hayes made a deal with the Special Committee of Congress to pull federal troops out of the South in exchange for their support.  That deal was made, and neo-slavery became a reality in the country, and especially in the South for the next 89 years – and of course, Hayes became President.

So, buckle up – whoever is at the top of the Democratic ticket is in for a rough ride.  And, if Trump wins, we face sea changes comparable to those made in 1876.  The turnout will be key, not only in voting for President but in voting for House members, because they will ultimately determine in a ceremonial (or in a real) way who will be the next President of the United States.  

'SHE MADE A WAY - PART TWO"

 “SHE MADE A WAY – PART TWO

I’m waiting to receive my order of my newest book “She Made A Way:  Mother and Me in a Deep South World.”  It is part memoir, part story of my mother’s courage and tenacity, part study of our captivity to the destructive powers, and part reflection on seeking liberation from those powers.  For a long time, I have wanted to write the story of my single mother and me, seeking to live out of love in a world of racism, sexism, and materialism.  I’ve also wanted to work through the story of my mother raising me as a single, working mom in a patriarchal society, seeking to keep me from harm, while offering me some possible paths to liberation.

Here is what Dr. Chris Boesel wrote in his endorsement of “She Made A Way”:  

“This startlingly honest memoir is essential reading for white folk in the USA, and for anyone struggling to understand the intractable power of racism and white supremacy in our personal and social lives.  At the heart of this story is the mystery of how the destructive forces of racism – and sexism and homophobia – can reign in the hearts and lives that are also full of genuine, life-giving familial love and loyalty.  The book’s stark promise: transformative change is possible, but only as a lifelong journey accompanied by heartbreaking division and conflict.  Nibs Stroupe’s gospel is one of truly redemptive power – that also divides like a sword.”  

So, this book is written in honor of my mother, Mary Armour Stroupe, but also as an answer to a question with which I have long wrestled in my adult life:  How did I – and how do any of us – get caught in the web of racism and sexism and materialism?  How do we get so captured by demonic powers like this?  It is a captivity so deep that it changes the way that we perceive ourselves and perceive the world around us.  It is a captivity that is so subtle that it takes our hearts long before we know anything about it.  We are taken so deeply into such a captivity because it is given to us by those we love and who we love.  That is the stark and difficult answer, and this is why so many people who are classified as “white” are in such deep denial about our captivity.  To acknowledge our captivity would be to put ourselves in conflict with those we love, and it is a great price to pay.

This book does not leave us in despair, however.  It offers us hope for beginning to find some liberation from our captivity.  While my mother helped to bind me into this captivity, she also offered me ways to find a different path.  Her love, her compassion, her tenacity, her decency, her sense of fairness – all these factored into the tentative steps that I began to take to find some liberation from my captivity, steps that brought me into tension with her.  

So, go get the book!  You can find it at bookshop.org (the link is https://bookshop.org/p/books/she-made-a-way-mother-and-me-in-a-deep-south-world-nibs-stroupe/21530365?ean=9798385208548), your local bookstore, Amazon, or me.  I’ll be glad to get your comments on it.  And, of course, I’ll be glad to come to any of your groups to do a book talk/signing.  Thanks to our daughter Susan, I now have an author page on Facebook, and here’s the link for that: https://www.facebook.com/nibsstroupeauthor/

"THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR"

 “THE 50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TOUR”

Caroline and I are coming to the end of our 50th Anniversary Tour, and it has been a great trip!  It began on June 16 with the arrival of Susan from Baltimore, followed by David, Erin and Zoe from Salt Lake City on June 18 and Emma from Houston on June 20. We all planned and worked for the 50th celebration at the Hawkins Dining Hall at Legacy Park in Decatur on June 22.  Susan and David had organized it, and they were the emcees for it.  We had hoped for 80 or so people to attend, but we had 135 instead – yay!  The celebration began with a combo of a slide show and sound track via techno wizard Nick Downey, backed by wonderful food from Inez Giles and crew.  We had set out tables with photo albums from our wedding in 1974, as well as copies of the six books that we have written, including the latest from Nibs (“She Made A Way: Mother and Me in a Deep South World.”) People had time to visit and catch up. 

    About 3 PM, David and Susan stepped forward to get the formal program going.  It began with a video by Rev. Sandy Winter, a longtime mentor of Caroline’s and one of the officiants at our wedding in 1974.  Other videos came from Rev. Ed Loring (the other officiant at our wedding, in whose back yard we got married), Rev. Reggie Avant in Seattle, Rev. Dr. David Billings and spouse Margery Freeman, Dr. Leah Gose, and Dr. Collin and Vienna Cornell.  Speakers included a “dialogue sermon” from John and Dee Cole Vodicka, and then Christine Callier, Inez Giles, and Nick Downey.  Trivia questions were added by David and Susan, and we had fun seeing who could answer them.  One such question was “Which card game did Nibs Stroupe not invent to entertain the kids in the last hour of a 9 hour drive to Arkansas?” (Possible answers were a. Toe poker, b. Oddy Roddy, c. Blankjack, and d. Even Steven – let us know your guess!).  Then we were treated to a toast from 3 of the young women whom we had helped to raise: Bemene Baadom-Piaro, Keisha Scales Gabriel, and Patrece Giles Cunningham.  Then, of course, we scooted the tables back and had dancing – here’s the link to one of the videos of the dancing: https://www.facebook.com/whitworthg/videos/1197183134971674

    A couple of days later, Caroline, Susan and I headed out for sites related to our 50th anniversary, stopping first at Edisto Beach, South Carolina, for some fun beach time and to visit with Pat Hiott-Mason in Charleston.  I had met Caroline at Robin and Linda Williams’ wedding in Nashville in the early summer of 1973.  She lived in Atlanta, where Pat lived, and when I let Pat know that I was interested in Caroline, she became matchmaker for us (it did not take a lot of work!).  We paid homage to her and enjoyed the beach, then we drove to Norfolk, Virginia, where we had our first church as the first clergy couple in the former PCUS – we were at St. Columba Presbyterian Church. 

     It was located in a 1500 unit, low-income apartment complex, and our calling was to develop the congregation and the community ministry.  We wrote a grant for the Presbyterian Women Birthday Offering in 1978, and we were blessed to receive that.  It was a grant of $220,000 (equivalent to $800,000+ today), and we started St. Columba Ministries as an outreach to those who were caught in the grips of poverty and racism.  In the middle of that, the city of Norfolk decided to tear down the 1500 apartment units and build an industrial park.  We had many protests, and we lost the City Council vote 5-4 (the 2 Presbyterians on the Council voted against us).  Though the church closed in 1983, St. Columba Ministries continued and grew under the leadership of Alice Taylor – it still exists today under the leadership of Alicia Matthews and long-time administrator Helmi Ortiz (Helmi was there when we were at St. Columba!). 

    While in Norfolk, we showed Susan the first house that we ever bought, and we tried to find the exact spot where the church used to be.  We had a fine meal one night with former SCM members: Linda Davenport, Jonathan Davenport, Toni Fields, Alice Taylor, Carol Bayma, Sue Shepard, and Wanda Shepard Goff.  We drove to Susan’s home in Baltimore for a birthday dinner for Caroline with Glenn Ricci and Ursula Marcum, and Trustina Fabah, colleagues from Susan’s Submersive Theater troupe. We also enjoyed a visit with Bemene Baadom-Piaro, who drove over for Caroline’s birthday.  On July 4, I visited with my longtime friend Ed Loring of the Open Door Community. 

     We made a day trip to Shrewsbury, PA, to meet our friends Dave and Joyce Hess, former stalwart members at Oakhurst, and we also had a day trip to see former Oakhurster Chelsea Friauf-Evans in Silver Springs.  So, wow, a great 50th anniversary tour!  Thanks to Susan especially who served as guide, friend and driver for us, and to all who helped us celebrate!

"TIME FOR JOE TO GO"

 “TIME FOR JOE TO GO”

I wrote back in early March that it was time for Joe Biden to end his presidential bid in order to allow a younger person to step up.  Biden has been a good president, but his performance in Thursday’s debate only strengthens the idea that it is time for him to go.  The NYT and others are calling for him to suspend his campaign and release his delegates, and while the time is extremely short, he must go in order to save us from a second Trump presidency.  I’m repeating my March 4 blog below with my original arguments.  

“SHOULD JOE GO?”

I am thinking and worrying about the Presidential election in November.  I started to name this blog “Joe Should Go,” but I couldn’t quite bring myself to do that.  The time is running short, but if President Biden wanted to step down as the Democratic front-runner, there is still a small window left.  Lyndon Johnson announced that he would not run for re-election at the end of March of 1968.  That did not turn out well for the Democrats, but Bobby Kennedy was on the rise until his assassination in June of that year, and I believe that he would have beaten Nixon had he not been killed.  There are a lot of parallels between 1968 and 2024 – a sitting President whom many in his own party have great doubts about their chances for re-election; the Democratic convention in Chicago in 1968, which turned into a disaster for the Democrats, as Mayor Richard Daley manhandled the anti-war demonstrators; and a scary Republican candidate.

Up until the Michigan presidential primary, I was feeling OK about President Biden’s chances to defeat Trump.  Michigan was the first presidential primary with significant urban centers, and for me that meant that it was a key reflection of what we might see in November.  The numbers in Michigan were not good for Biden beating Trump.  There were the noteworthy “uncommitted” voters  totaling over 101,000 in the Democratic primary, many of them a protest vote against Biden’s failure to uphold human values in the war in Gaza.  

    More disturbing to me, however, were the vote totals in the primaries.  Some 768,000+ voted in the Democratic primary, and Biden won over 80% of those.  But, over 1,102,000 people voted in the Republican primary, meaning that 334,000 more people in Michigan voted for Republicans than for Democrats.  Indeed, Trump received almost as many votes as all the Democratic candidates combined.  I recognize that the Republican primary was more contested than the Democratic, but the vote differential is staggering to me.  It means that many Democratic voters stayed home for the primary, and while they may not stay home in November for the general election, making up 334,000 votes is a tall order in such a swing state. 

    I’m thinking that Joe should go.  There are strong Democratic candidates waiting in the wings – Kamala Harris, Gretchen Whitmer, Cory Booker, Stacey Abrams, Gavin Newsom, to name a few.  The time is exceedingly short, but with Trump’s legal troubles, there is much more of an open window for new Democratic candidates. Obviously, none of them will step in unless Biden steps out.  Every time that I see President Biden on tv, he looks more and more frail.  He has done a good job as President, but he is simply too old to run for a second term.  If he stays in the race and gets the nomination, I will work hard for him and vote for him, but I do not believe that he can beat Trump, given what the Michigan results look like. 

  I feel today as I felt when President Biden announced for re-election on April 24 last year– he is too old to run for re-election.  As Trump’s legal woes mount (and his age is showing too,), there is a good chance for a Democrat not named President Biden to win the presidency.  And, given the nature of Trump’s self-delusional narcissism, it is absolutely imperative that he not return to the Presidency.  I’m guessing that is why Governor Nikki Haley is staying in the race, figuring and hoping that Trump’s legal troubles will do him in before the election in November.  And, I do not think that President Biden can beat Haley, if she were the Republican nominee.  The New York election interference Trump trial at the end of this month will tell us a lot, but with all the delays, none of those are a given before the election.

So, I believe that President Biden still has time to bow out of the Presidential election, but only a few weeks.  As I wrote in an earlier blog at the beginning of the year, this year of 2024 will be one of the most chaotic and most consequential of many in recent history.  We have a lot of events left to occur and to digest, but I do believe that Joe should go.