T P O

T   P   O
The Patient Ox (aka Hénock Gugsa)

G r e e t i n g s !

** TPO **
A personal blog with diverse topicality and multiple interests!


On the menu ... politics, music, poetry, and other good stuff.
There is humor, but there is blunt seriousness here as well!


Parfois, on parle français ici aussi. Je suis un francophile .... Bienvenue à tous!

* Your comments and evaluations are appreciated ! *

Saturday, August 31, 2019

[A Hateful World - a Sad Tale] ~ From: Steven Pokin


Medgar Evers (1925-1963)

[ A Hateful World - a Sad Tale ]
From:  Steven Pokin* on Facebook - August 23, 2019
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This is where the two little sons of Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers slept. When he had this house built in Jackson, Mississippi, he had the window you see elevated to make it less likely his children would be shot.

He had the house built without a front door for security reasons. The main entrance was at the side of the house, at the end of a car port.

His house was the only one on the street that had small stones and gravel on a flat roof. That way, it would not catch fire is someone tossed a lit torch on the roof.
 

He had his children’s mattresses placed directly on the floor to make them less visible targets.

He told his wife and children to sit on the floor while watching TV.

In 1963, he was the NAACP’s first Mississippi field director. Three times that year, someone had fired into his home.

As a boy, he had witnessed the separate lynchings of a black man and a 10-year-old black boy — who had made the mistake of going to the whites-only county fair.

On June 10, he was not home when someone tried to enter through the rear door of his home. His wife moved the refrigerator to block entry. They left the refrigerator there.

That week, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy spoke to the nation about civil rights, justice and a more perfect union. The President said it was coming and he asked the nation to give him time that, ultimately, he did not have.

Medgar Evers gave a speech in Jackson the night of June 11,1963. He returned home — to this home — lugging many T-shirts that he planned to give out at a rally the next day. They said: “Say No to Jim Crow.”

He was excited about the President’s speech.

He parked behind his wife’s car in the driveway and was almost in the car port when an assassin across the street shot him with a high-powered rifle.

No ambulance came.

A neighbor took him to the whites-only hospital. Doctors were unsure if they should treat him. They were out of “Negro blood” and feared they could lose their medical licenses if they used white blood to try to save a black man.

Then, a white doctor stepped in and said none of that mattered and worked valiantly to try to save the life of Medgar Evers, who had served this country at the invasion of Normandy.

He died about 40 minutes after being shot.

The bullet entered his back, came out his chest, went through a window, went through an interior wall leading to the kitchen and left a dent in the refrigerator.

I touched that dent today. Then, I went into the bedroom and saw the mattresses on the floor with the Teddy Bears on them.

I have never before felt history the way I felt it today.


Steven Pokin - reporter for the Springfield News-Leader





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Comment by Hénock Gugsa ===> The underbelly of hateful and murderous racism ! This was and probably is still an unknown episode in the shameful chapters of America's history. And now, some ugly remnants are desperately trying to bring it back because that was when "America was great" !!! 😡😡😡

Friday, August 30, 2019

Especially Regarding St. Mark's Church ! (በተለየ ስለቅዱስ ማርቆስ ቤ/ክ) - by Hénock Gugsa ሄኖክ ጉግሣ


Please double-click on the picture to enlarge.

Especially Regarding St. Mark's Church ! *
 (በተለየ  ስለቅዱስ  ማርቆስ  ቤ/ክ) 
- by Hénock Gugsa ሄኖክ ጉግሣ -
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In the Sidist Kilo neighborhood where I was born in the quarters just behind the Ministry of Finance's compound, the whole surrounding sections of Ligaba Bureau, Seba Dereja (70-Steps), and Jann Meda were all in my domain.  To be certain, all of my formative years were spent there!  The places of worship were Markos (St. Mark's), St. Mary's at Amist Kilo, and Medhane Alem (our Lord and Savior's) adjacent to Tafari Makonnen School !

My father and I went mostly to St. Mark's  (Markos) because it was the closest and the most ideal, and because it was never crowded.  My dad (God rest his soul!) was definitely more devout than I, and he attended church daily by arriving at Markos in the very early  hours around 5:00 a.m.  Growing up in Eritrea, he had reached the position of church deacon before life and destiny took him in other directions.  Nevertheless, the church's rites and especially the Coptic psalms and prayers were always second nature to him!


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6 ኪሎ  ሠፈር  ከገንዘብ  ሚኒስቴር  ጀርባ  ተወልጄ ፥  በአካባቢው  በሊጋባ  ቢሮ ፥  በ70  ደረጃ ፥  እና  እንዲሁም  ወደ  ጃን  ሜዳ  አካባቢ  ያለው ሁሉ በመላ  የኔ  ሠፈር  (ግዛት) ነበር !!!  ቅዱስ ማርቆስ ቤተ ክርስቲያን የሠፈራችን ዕንቁ የነበረ ቤተ እግዚያብሔር ነበር ።   ሌሎች  የሠፈራችን  ተወዳጅ  ቤተ  ክርስቲያናት  እነ  ቅድስት ማርያም (በ 5ኪሎ)  እና  ምሥካዬ  ህዙናን  መድሃኔ  ዓለም (ከት/ቤቴ  ማለት  ከተፈሪ መኰንን  ጐን  ያለው)  ናቸው ። 

የኔ  አባት ፥  እና  እኔ  በብዛት (mostly)  የቅዱስ  ማርቆስ  ቤተ  ክርስቲያን  ምዕመናን  ነበርን ።  በተለይ  ከኔ  ብዙ  ብዙ  ይበልጥ  አባቴ  (ነፍሳቸውን  ይማረውና)  ተሳታፊ  ነበሩ !  በየዕለቱ  ከሌሊቱ  11 ሰዓት  ከቄሶቹ  ጋር  ያስቀድሱ  ነበር ።  በልጅነታቸው  በኤርትራ  እስከ  ዲያቆን  ደረጃ  ደርሰው  ስለነበር  መዝሙረ  ዳዊትን  እና  የቅስና  ፀሎትን  ሁሉ  ሁሉ  በደንብ  ከጫፍ  እስከ  ጫፍ  ያውቁ  ነበር። 
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 * Addis Ababa, Ethiopia