We are Orthodox Christian Greeks.
Because we are Orthodox Christians, we love our country, our people and all the peoples of the earth; this of course includes our African brothers and sisters.
Μετάφραση
από τα αγγλικά. Εισαγωγή: Ένα γκρουπ προτεσταντών, κατά βάσιν πρώην
φυλακισμένων και άστεγων, με τον πάστορα της κοινότητάς τους,
επισκέπτονται διάφορες χριστιανικές εκκλησίες άλλων κοινοτήτων και
καταλήγουν σε μια ελληνορθόδοξη εκκλησία, μέρος πρωτόγνωρο γι' αυτούς.
Εκεί απορούν γιατί υπάρχουν εικόνες, αφού οι προτεστάντες δεν
αποδέχονται τις εικόνες λόγω της Παλαιάς Διαθήκης.
... Ακούγοντας αυτή την ερώτηση, με υπομονή και
ευγένεια, ο ιερέας εξήγησε ότι τη συγκεκριμένη ημέρα οι Ορθόδοξες
Εκκλησίες γιορτάζουν την Αγία Αγάθη.
Τότε ο Ιερέας άρχισε να περιγράφει στην ομάδα μας τη ζωή της Αγίας
Αγάθης. Δήλωσε ότι η Αγία Αγάθη έζησε στην Ιταλία τον τρίτο αιώνα και
ότι ήταν οπαδός του Χριστού. Η Αγάθη ήταν μια όμορφη νεαρή γυναίκα, την
οποία πολλοί άντρες ήθελαν να παντρευτούν. Όμως η Αγκάθα, ως οπαδός του
Χριστού, ήθελε να διατηρήσει την αγνότητά της και να ζήσει ως παρθένος για χάρη του Σωτήρα της και επέλεξε να μην παντρευτεί.
Ένας πλούσιος
ειδωλολάτρης με το όνομα Κουιντιανός, συνεπαρμένος από την ομορφιά της, ζήτησε το χέρι της. Η Αγάθη αρνήθηκε τις προτάσεις του και του δήλωσε ότι ήθελε να παραμείνει αγνή για ολόκληρη
τη ζωή της. Ο Κουιντιανός, εξαγριωμένος από την απόρριψη της Αγάθης,
αρχικά τη διαπόμπευσε στο κέντρο της πόλης και, με
τους κατοίκους να παρακολουθούν, έβαλε τους
υπηρέτες του να κόψουν το στήθος της! Στη συνέχεια, ζήτησε και
πάλι για τελευταία φορά για το χέρι της (λες και ο προηγούμενος
απάνθρωπος ακρωτηριασμός μπορούσε να αναγκάσει κάποιον να παντρευτεί)
και πάλι η Αγάθη τον επέπληξε και δεσμεύτηκε στον Χριστό και στην
αγιότητα. Και πάλι, τροφοδοτημένος από την οργή, ο Κουιντιανός ως
τελευταία τελική πράξη - για να εκμεταλλευτεί την επιθυμία της Αγκάθα για
αγνότητα - την ανάγκασε να ξεγυμνωθεί μπροστά σε όλους τους θεατές της πόλης
και μετά την έσυρε μέχρι θανάτου δεμένη πίσω από μια άμαξα.
Καθώς ο Ιερέας μας είπε αυτή τη δραματική
ιστορία, παρατήρησα από την άκρη του ματιού μου ότι ένας από τους κυρίους
της ομάδας συμπεριφερόταν κάπως περίεργα. Κάπως περπατούσε, έσφιγγε τις
γροθιές του και μουρμούρισε κάτω από την ανάσα του. Έμοιαζε σαν να
περνούσε τα όρια μεταξύ θυμού και κλάματος. Δεν γνώριζα πραγματικά αυτόν
τον συγκεκριμένο άνθρωπο, που θα τον ονομάσουμε "Σον", καθώς ήταν
νέος στο γκρουπ και στο πρόγραμμά μας. Ο Σον ήταν οπτικά εκφοβιστικός
καθώς στεκόταν 6 πόδια 3 ίντσες, είχε έντονα μάτια και τατουάζ σε όλο
του το πρόσωπο. Έμοιαζε με τον γίγαντα στην ταινία "Το Πράσινο Μίλι", αλλά
πιο τρομακτικός.
Το μυαλό μου έτρεχε καθώς άρχισα να παρατηρώ
ότι αυτός ο γιγαντιαίος άντρας απογοητεύεται όλο και περισσότερο.
Έπαιξαν άσχημα σενάρια στο μυαλό μου: Θα έβαζε νοκ-άουτ αυτόν τον
ευγενικό, γέρο ιερέα; Ήταν να ξεσπάσει σε κλάματα; Θα
προσπαθούσε να καταστρέψει την εικόνα της Αγίας Αγάθης; Αποφάσισα,
διστακτικά, να πάω και να μιλήσω με τον Σον για να προσπαθήσω να τον
ηρεμήσω. Μη έχοντας ακόμη δημιουργήσει εμπιστοσύνη με τον Σον, προσπάθησα
να είμαι συμπονετικός με τον μεγαλόσωμο άντρα.
Του είπα, «Σον, τι συμβαίνει φίλε; Μπορώ να πω
ότι είσαι εκνευρισμένος… Υπάρχει κάτι που μπορώ να κάνω για σένα αυτή
τη στιγμή;»
Συνεχίζοντας να βηματίζει, σφίγγοντας τη γροθιά
του και με δάκρυα στα μάτια, μου είπε θυμωμένος: «Γιατί να το κάνουν
αυτό;»
«Δεν ξέρω, Σον, οι εικόνες δεν είναι
μέρος της παράδοσής μου», του απάντησα υποθέτοντας ότι μιλούσε για την εικόνα.
Εκείνος απέκρουσε την απάντησή μου, «Όχι, γιατί να την κάνουν αγία;»
Και πάλι απάντησα: «Δεν ξέρω, Σον, δεν καταλαβαίνω πλήρως τους αγίους».
Εκείνος απάντησε, κλαίγοντας σε αυτό το σημείο, «Γιατί να την κάνουν παράδειγμα;»
«Δεν ξέρω, Σον» είναι το μόνο που θα μπορούσα
να καταλήξω. Ο Σον δεν γρονθοκόπησε τον ιερέα ούτε ανέτρεψε το
εικονίδιο.
Συναντήθηκα με τον Σον την επόμενη μέρα, καθώς
ήθελα να καταλάβω τι είχε συμβεί. Ο Σον έσπασε εκείνη την ημέρα στο
γραφείο μου. Μου
εξήγησε πως η μαμά του είχε βιαστεί ως έφηβη και ότι η εγκυμοσύνη της με
τον Σον ήταν το αποτέλεσμα αυτού του βιασμού. Μου περιέγραψε με
παραστατικές λεπτομέρειες πως σχεδόν καθημερινά η μητέρα του τού
υπενθύμιζε ότι ήταν αποτέλεσμα βιασμού και τον τιμωρούσε συνήθως γι'
αυτό. Στη συνέχεια, ο Σον περιέγραψε πώς, ως αποτέλεσμα όλου του πόνου
που ένιωθε στη ζωή του και όλης της κακομεταχείρισης που είχε δεχτεί,
προχώρησε επίσης να πληγώσει άλλους σε όλη του τη ζωή.
Στη συνέχεια, μου εξήγησε ότι στο άκουσμα της
ιστορίας της Αγίας Αγάθης θεώρησε αδιανόητο πώς κάποιος τέτοιος άνθρωπος, κάποιος
που κακοποιήθηκε τόσο σκληρά, θα μπορούσε να είναι παράδειγμα για τη
χριστιανική πίστη. Ήταν ακόμη πιο μπερδεμένο για τον Σον ότι κάποιος
σαν την Αγάθη μπορούσε να θεωρηθεί άγιος. Ήταν έκπληκτος με το πώς ο
Θεός και μια Εκκλησία μπορούσαν να κοιτάξουν κάποιον τόσο κατεστραμμένο,
τόσο συντετριμμένο, και να δηλώσουν ότι κάποιος σαν την Αγάθη είναι
άγιος.
Ο Σον είδε τον εαυτό του στη ζωή της Αγίας Αγάθης. Έβλεπε στη ζωή της έναν οδηγό για τη δική του. Έβλεπε στην
ελπίδα της το δικό του μαρτύριο. Είχε βρει έναν Σωτήρα που δεν τον
θεώρησε καταραμένο ή πολύ συντετριμμένο για σωτηρία. Είχε βρει μια
Εκκλησία που του έδινε την ευκαιρία, έστω και με όλη του τη ντροπή και
τη συντριβή του, να γίνει κάτι πέρα από τα ελαττώματά του. Άρχισε τη
διαδικασία να αναγνωρίσει ότι μέσα στον Χριστό υπήρχε ελπίδα να γίνει
άγιος και ακόμη και να γίνει παράδειγμα πίστης για τους άλλους. Ότι υπήρχε
ένας τόπος και ένας σκοπός στη ζωή του και ότι όλος ο πόνος που βίωσε θα
μπορούσε να είναι μέρος της στροφής του προς την αγιότητα.
Ο Σον
εντάχθηκε σε αυτήν την Ορθόδοξη Εκκλησία. Βλέποντας έναν Αφροαμερικανό 6 πόδια 3 ίντσες
με τατουάζ στο πρόσωπο να στέκεται ανάμεσα σε Ελληνίδες γιαγιάδες σε
μια ελληνική γιορτή, να γελούν μαζί και να μοιράζονται αστεία, ήταν σαν
να έβλεπες μια μικρή γεύση από τον παράδεισο.
Fr.
Moses Berry, an OCA priest ministering at Theotokos “Unexpected Joy”
Orthodox Church in Ash Grove, Missouri, has an unusual story. In 1998,
he moved with his family from St. Louis to his family’s farm in Ash
Grove, near Springfield. Century Farm has been in the Berry family since
1872; on the property a cemetery dedicated to “Slaves, Paupers, and
Indians” needed maintenance and oversight, and so Fr. Moses left a
mission in the city to return to his rural boyhood home.
A small group of faithful collected around the new mission, Theotokos
“Unexpected Joy.” The tiny cemetery chapel hosted the first services;
in 2000 the mission was received into the Orthodox Church in America,
and in 2003 parishioners erected a temple.
Fr. Moses travels widely to give talks on mission and also on local
Afro-American history; folks who have met him elsewhere often stop by to
worship when they pass through the area. In addition to leading the
parish, Fr. Moses also heads up The Brotherhood of St Moses the Black, a
pan-Orthodox nonprofit organization which presents an annual conference
targeting those who have little exposure to Orthodoxy or its African
roots.
Recently, oca.org interviewed Fr. Moses about his unique ministry.
1. Father, for those who might not be familiar with your
background, can you give us a snapshot of how you came to be an OCA
priest?
It was in a seemingly roundabout fashion. All my life, I’ve had what
we in the African American tradition (and some others as well) refer to
as a “calling.” I come from a long line of African Methodist Episcopal
(AME) preachers of some renown in this area. After being somewhat of a
prodigal son, at one point, I found myself being released from
incarceration by what seemed to be miraculous means. I made a promise
to serve the Lord, and began a long journey to the Faith, which led me
through various Christian and non-Christian groups. When I was ordained
by Archbishop JOB in 2000, he told me that I had traveled far to get to
the Church, but that I hadn’t “arrived” - the journey would continue.
That made me both thankful for my life to that point, and hopeful for
the future.
2. During Black History Month, it seems especially fitting to
discuss your 2011 AAC resolution, which passed by an overwhelming
majority. What were you requesting, and why?
I wanted the OCA to invite African American people (referring to
those whose ancestors were slaves or could have been slaves, in this
country) to the Lord’s feast - not by a “general” invitation because
we’ve always been open to everyone, but a specific one. I wanted our
Church to call them by name. We know that in Christ there is no East or
West, slave or free, no Gentile or Jew, but that very passage indicates
that there are distinctions among people, and that God loves us all
equally. It’s time we actively sought after and made a real effort to
plant the True Church in the African American community.
The text of the resolution read:
“WHEREAS there are deep resonances between the faith of the early Church
and the heartfelt Christianity born out of the American slaves’
experience, especially characterized by the “sad joyfulness” common to
the Desert Fathers and Mothers and to the suffering, underground church
of the African American slaves, and
WHEREAS African Americans have been and are still significantly
under-represented in the Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Orthodox Church
in America,
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Orthodox Church in America, at every
level of church life, promote and encourage education about the shared
heritage of Black and White Americans and the necessity for increased
efforts to evangelize the African American community.”
3. You have said, “to be a Church for all Americans, we will have to overcompensate.” Can you explain what you mean by this?
Basic human nature tells us that people are most comfortable with
others like themselves. Many of us take this for granted, and may not
understand the profound affect it has on an individual to see an icon
that resembles them - or conversely, to never see a face that looks like
theirs. So many people I know were profoundly moved when they first
encountered the image of St. Moses the Black, because of this. And
that’s part of what I mean by overcompensation - we have to recognize
everyone’s human frailty and address it, without being condescending. We
need to deeply and soberly, in an Orthodox manner, celebrate the
diversity of God’s expression in the human family.
4. This is a busy month for you. Who do you speak to during this
month in schools and churches, and what is the thrust of your message?
I most recently talked to a high school group near the Ft. Leonard
Wood army base, and I’m speaking at a FOCUS gathering this week about
African American history. Especially to young people, I point out that
we were more than slaves, but helped build the nation. Young people,
who feel, rightly or wrongly, disenfranchised, need to know that their
ancestors struggled and made great sacrifices, and were not merely
victims.
I also would quote St. Ambrose, when he said “Even in the lowliest
status, men should learn that their character can be superior and that
no state of life is devoid of virtue if the soul of the individual knows
itself. The flesh is subject to slavery, not the spirit, and many
humble servants are more free than their masters…Every sin is slavish,
while blamelessness is free. On this account the Lord also says
‘Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.’ Indeed, how is each greedy
man not a slave, seeing that he auctions himself off for a very tiny
sum.” (Seven Exegetical Works. B#12 Vol. 65, p. 201)
I use my appearances during Black History month as way to introduce
people who might not otherwise hear of it to the history of the Church.
5. Can you tell us a bit about the 19th Annual Ancient Christianity and Afro-American Conference scheduled for May?
There’s a lot of information about it on the Brotherhood web site.
The conference this year will be held at Antiochian Village on May
25-27, and will include people from all Orthodox jurisdictions. Bishop
Thomas Joseph of the Antiochian Archdiocese will be the speaker.
6. What are the greatest challenges and opportunities facing the
clergy and faithful of the OCA today, in regards to reaching out to the
African American community?
The first, and most important thing, is to know that we are the true
Church, holy, catholic and apostolic, and everyone must be part of it. I
have a tiny parish in a tiny town, and I feel that there should be tiny
churches in every tiny town, and in every neighborhood. The Church
belongs to everyone - and we are duty-bound to open our hearts, and our
doors, however difficult that may be. In all the years I’ve been a
pastor, I’ve been asked repeatedly, “Fr. Moses, how can I minister to
Black people?” I’ve never been asked, “How can I minister to White
people?” So you see, the question is ridiculous. We all do the best we
can with what we’ve got, and God gives the increase.
The Department of Religion mourns the death of Albert J. Raboteau,
Henry W. Putnam Professor of Religion Emeritus. Al’s research has left
an extraordinary legacy in the field of African American religious
history, African American Studies, and American religious history. His
first book, Slave Religion: The “Invisible Institution” in the Antebellum South
(1979), transformed our understanding of the religious experiences of
the enslaved though his careful and empathetic attention to their voices
and accounts of their spiritual lives, his presentation of complex
theological grappling with suffering, and his recognition of the wisdom
and joy of Black religious life in slavery amidst sorrow and violence.
Many of his later writings, including the essays in A Fire in the Bones: Reflections on African American Religious History (1995) and A Sorrowful Joy
(2002), are marked by incorporation of personal reflections about the
stakes of the study of African American religious history as a Black man
from Bay St. Louis, Mississippi whose father was murdered by a white
man before he was born and as a Christian believer whose religious
formation took place first in the Roman Catholic Church and in later
years in Eastern Orthodoxy. Al’s scholarship also focused on
understanding the relationship of religion to social protest,
particularly in efforts for racial justice, and in his final book, American Prophets: Seven Religious Radicals and Their Struggle for Social Justice
(2016), he profiled a diverse group of figures whose spirituality and
work had influenced, including Fannie Lou Hamer, Dorothy Day, and Thomas
Merton, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Abraham Joshua Heschel.
Al joined the Princeton faculty in 1983, having taught previously at
Xavier University in New Orleans, Yale University, and the University of
California at Berkeley. He retired from the faculty in 2013, although
he continued to teach occasional seminars in Religion and African
American Studies over the next few years. He served as Chair of the
Department of Religion from 1987 to 1992 and as Dean of the Graduate
School in 1992-1993. He was active in the Afro-American Studies Program,
contributing to its development over the years to the Center for
African American Studies and now the Department of African American
Studies. He was a founding member of the Center for the Study of
American Religion that later became the Center for the Study of Religion
and now the Center for Culture, Society, and Religion.
Al loved teaching and was a beloved teacher, advisor, and mentor to
undergraduate and graduate students in the Department of Religion and
many other departments and programs at Princeton, as well as other
institutions where he served as visiting faculty. His courses at
Princeton over the years demonstrated the breadth of his interests as
well as the diverse sources and methods on which he drew to explore the
role of religion in American society and culture. His courses included:
“Religion and Nationalism in America,” “Afro-American Religious
Movements,” “The Performed Word: Afro-American Religious Culture,”
“African American Religious History,” “Catholicism in America,”
“American Religious Radicals,” “Religion and Immigration in America,”
“Holy Ordinary: Religious Dimensions in Contemporary Fiction,”
“Re-Enchanting the World: Religion and the Literature of Fantasy,” and
“Merton and King.”
Al received Princeton’s Martin Luther King Day Journey Award for
Lifetime Service in 2006 in recognition of his work to advance King’s
dream for America, and Princeton’s Howard T. Berhman Award for
distinguished contributions to humanities in 1998, addition to numerous
other awards and prizes for his research and contributions to the field.
He delivered the Department of Religion’s 2018 Danforth Lecture in the
Study of Religion on “Balm in Gilead: Memory, Mourning and Healing in
Afro-American Autobiography.”
A formal University Memorial statement and details regarding ways to honor Albert Raboteau are forthcoming.
Judith Weisenfeld
Agate Brown and George L. Collord Professor of Religion
Chair, Department of Religion
A viewing will be held Thursday, Sept. 23, from 6-9 p.m. at Mother of
God Joy of All Who Sorrow Orthodox Church, 904 Cherry Hill Road,
Princeton, N.J.
The funeral will be held at the same church at 10 a.m. on Friday,
Sept. 24. The ceremony is open to well-wishers and will also be streamed
live online at https://www.facebook.com/mogprinceton. The burial will follow at Highland Cemetery, 95 Hopewell-Wertsville Road, Hopewell, N.J.
In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to Arm in Arm,
formerly known as The Crisis Ministry, in Trenton, N.J., which can be
contacted at arminarm.org or (609) 396-9355.
"We
are Orthodox Christians who affirm traditional standards of ethnic
identity (language, location, and religion) and thereby oppose the
classification of personal ethnic identity based upon color categories" (see here).
“Without purity of heart, we cannot reach our goal. We should therefore always have this purpose in mind; and should it ever happen for a short time our heart turns aside from the direct path, we must bring it back again at once, guiding our lives with reference to our purpose as if it were a carpenter’s rule.” Saint Moses the Black
Saint Moses was a very dark skinned man who stood out from the lighter complexioned Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans around Alexandria. Thus, he was called the Ethiopian more because of his “burnt face” apperance rather than actually being from the specific African kingdom. After being enslaved (as people of any “race” in the Roman Empire was), Moses became a heralded monk known for great forgiveness and humility. He turned away a wealthy man who wanted to give him great wishes. But, he welcomed and conversed an aspiring Christian from Gaul (modern day France) named John Cassian.
It is easy to consider that having a pure heart is the pursuit of monks and nuns as we read this account in the Philokalia Vol. 1 (On the Holy Fathers of Sketis an on Discrimination). However, Jesus Christ gave us this promise in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8). We all have the responsibility to rid our inner selves of anger, lust, pride and other sins that keep us from experiencing God’s presence in our lives. Visiting a monk in the desert is a tall order. Becoming a monastic is not something that most of us are called to.
Developing and maintaining a prayer rule is a practical means anyone can use to cleanse the heart. We can ask the Lord to examine our hearts in our times of silence. We can repent even (and especially) of our “minor” sins and learn watchfulness to avoid temptations. Reading scripture and writings of early Christians can encourage us to develop such virtues as endurance, hospitality, love, and patience. Purifying the heart is not only a process of taking away spiritually toxic thought and behavior. We must also inject ourselves with things healthy for the soul.
Needless to say, prayer has to be more than presenting the Lord with petitions out of love. Prayer is also be a time for us to challenge ourselves to grow in God’s grace and leaving sin behind.
Not everyone can become an academic or
scholarly theologian. I do not say this to insult anyone’s intellect.
Much is said for desire and effort in achieving goals. However, the
demands of a seminary curriculum, reading volumes from ancient and
modern scholars, writing almost endless papers defending conclusions
based on history, scripture, and other topics; it is a special calling
to be that sort of theologian.
Theology literally means, “The study of
God.” If we are made in His image and likeness, does knowing Him
require admission in a divinity school costing tens of thousands of
dollars so that we can become members of the ordained clergy? For those
who feel called to some form of vocational ministry, yes.
However, God has always made Himself
known to rather simple people with limited resources and little time for
academic regimens. Moses was a murderer with a speech impediment.
Gideon was a frightened farm boy. The shepherds near Bethlehem were not
the great scholars of Judea. The Apostle Paul, who was a scholar, did
not preach with fine words. He only preached Christ and Him crucified
(I Corinthians 2:1, 2). Therefore, the way for every person to know God
is not some complex and expensive degree program. It is something as
simple as a maintained prayer rule.
I heard a story of an illiterate Greek man
who went into a church every morning greeting Jesus and asking Him for
strength for the day’s work. Every evening he went back to the church
on his way home to greet the Lord again and thank Him for the day. He
did this in good times and bad times until he couldn’t work anymore and
was placed in a nursing home. A nurse was concerned for his seemingly
lack of visitors. However, he explained to a priest that Christ came to
him every morning and evening encouraging him to be patient. In time,
the man told the priest, “Christ came to me and said He would take me to
heaven in three days.” On the third day as the priest was visiting,
the man sat up and said, “Christ is here!” That was his last breath.
Monk in prayer
I
think every Christian culture has stories of ordinary people who,
because of their regular prayers, had extraordinary peace in mind. It
is easy to dismiss slaves on a plantation or blacks in the Jim Crow
South as being terrorized into submission. However, many of those “old
praying” mothers and fathers did not have a shred of fear in them. God
had given them a calm in the midst of their storms that even confounded
their oppressors. Such spirituality was the foundation for the Civil
Rights Movement that sought reconciliation rather than revenge.
Knowing God only takes a heart and mind willing to seek Him
regularly. This sort of theologian may never write a book or earn a
degree. That is not important. The greater blessing is when his or her
name is written in the Book of Life. This is the calling and goal of
all Christians.
Statue of John Henry outside the town of Talcott in Summers County, West Virginia
John Henry is an American folk hero. An African American,
he is said to have worked as a "steel-driving man"—a man tasked with
hammering a steel drill into rock to make holes for explosives to blast
the rock in constructing a railroad tunnel.
The story of John Henry is told in a classic blues folk song,
which exists in many versions, and has been the subject of numerous
stories, plays, books, and novels.[1][2]
According to legend, John Henry's prowess as a steel-driver was measured in a race against a steam-powered rock drilling machine,
a race that he won only to die in victory with hammer in hand as his
heart gave out from stress. Various locations, including Big Bend Tunnel
in West Virginia,[3] Lewis Tunnel in Virginia, and Coosa Mountain Tunnel in Alabama, have been suggested as the site of the contest.
The contest involved John Henry as the hammer man working in
partnership with a shaker, who would hold a chisel-like drill against
mountain rock, while the hammer man struck a powerful blow with a
sledgehammer. Then the shaker would begin rocking and rolling: wiggling
and rotating the drill to optimize its bite. The steam drill machine
could drill but it could not shake the chippings away, so its bit could
not drill further and frequently broke down.
History
The historical accuracy of many of the aspects of the John Henry legend are subject to debate.[1][2] According to researcher Scott Reynolds Nelson, the actual John Henry was born in 1848 in New Jersey and died of silicosis and not due to exhaustion of work.[4]
Several locations have been put forth for the tunnel on which John Henry died.
Big Bend Tunnel
Sociologist Guy B. Johnson investigated the legend of John Henry in the late 1920s. He concluded that John Henry might have worked on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway's (C&O Railway) Big Bend Tunnel but that "one can make out a case either for or against" it.[5][3] That tunnel was built near Talcott, West Virginia, from 1870 to 1872 (according to Johnson's dating), and named for the big bend in the Greenbrier River nearby.
Some versions of the song refer to the location of John Henry's death as "The Big Bend Tunnel on the C. & O."[3] In 1927, Johnson visited the area and found one man who said he had seen it.
This man, known as Neal Miller,
told me in plain words how he had come to the tunnel with his father at
17, how he carried water and drills for the steel drivers, how he saw
John Henry every day, and, finally, all about the contest between John
Henry and the steam drill.
"When the agent for the steam drill company brought the drill
here," said Mr. Miller, "John Henry wanted to drive against it. He took a
lot of pride in his work and he hated to see a machine take the work of
men like him.
"Well, they decided to hold a test to get an idea of how
practical the steam drill was. The test went on all day and part of the
next day.
"John Henry won. He wouldn't rest enough, and he overdid. He took sick and died soon after that."
Mr. Miller described the steam drill in detail. I made a sketch of it
and later when I looked up pictures of the early steam drills, I found
his description correct. I asked people about Mr. Miller's reputation,
and they all said, "If Neal Miller said anything happened, it happened."[6]
When Johnson contacted Chief Engineer C. W. Johns of the C&O
Railroad regarding Big Bend Tunnel, Johns replied that "no steam drills
were ever used in this tunnel." When asked about documentation from the
period, Johns replied that "all such papers have been destroyed by
fire."[5]
Talcott holds a yearly festival named for Henry, and a statue and memorial plaque have been placed along West Virginia Route 3 south of Talcott as it crosses over the Big Bend tunnel.[7] (Coords 37°38′56″N80°46′04″W)
Lewis Tunnel
In the 2006 book Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend, historian Scott Reynolds Nelson
detailed his discovering documentation of a 19-year-old
African-American man alternately referred to as John Henry, John W.
Henry, or John William Henry in previously unexplored prison records of
the Virginia Penitentiary. At the time, penitentiary inmates were hired
out as laborers to various contractors, and this John Henry was notated
as having headed the first group of prisoners to be assigned tunnel
work. Nelson also discovered the C&O's tunneling records, which the
company believed had been destroyed by fire. Henry, like many African
Americans, might have come to Virginia to work on the clean-up of the
battlefields after the Civil War. Arrested and tried for burglary, John
Henry was in the first group of convicts released by the warden to work
as leased labor on the C&O Railway.[8]:39
According to Nelson, objectionable conditions at the Virginia
prison led the warden to believe that the prisoners, many of whom had
been arrested on trivial charges, would be better clothed and fed if
they were released as laborers to private contractors. (He subsequently
changed his mind about this and became an opponent of the convict labor
system.) In the C&O's tunneling records, Nelson found no evidence of
a steam drill used in Big Bend Tunnel.[9]
The records Nelson found indicate that the contest took place 40 miles (64 km) away at the Lewis Tunnel, between Talcott and Millboro, Virginia, where prisoners did indeed work beside steam drills night and day.[10]
Nelson also argues that the verses of the ballad about John Henry being
buried near "the white house," "in the sand," somewhere that
locomotives roar, mean that Henry's body was buried in a ditch behind
the so-called white house of the Virginia State Penitentiary, which photos from that time indicate was painted white, and where numerous unmarked graves have been found.[11]
Prison records for John William Henry stopped in 1873, suggesting
that he was kept on the record books until it was clear that he was not
coming back and had died. Nelson stresses that John Henry would have
been representative of the many hundreds of convict laborers who were
killed in unknown circumstances tunneling through the mountains or who
died shortly afterwards of silicosis from dust created by the drills and blasting.
Coosa Mountain Tunnel
There is another tradition that John Henry's famous race took place not in Virginia or West Virginia, but rather near Dunnavant, Alabama. Professor Johnson in the late 1920s received letters saying that John Henry worked on the A.G.S. Railway's
Cruzee or Curzey Mountain Tunnel in 1882, and a third letter saying it
was at Oak Mountain in 1887, but he discounted these reports after the
A.G.S. told him that the railway had no such tunnel.[6] Retired chemistry professor and folklorist John Garst, of the University of Georgia, has argued that the contest happened at the Coosa Mountain Tunnel or the Oak Mountain Tunnel of the Columbus and Western Railway (now part of Norfolk Southern Railway) near Dunnavant on September 20, 1887.[12]
Based on documentation that corresponds with the account of C. C.
Spencer, who claimed in the 1920s to have witnessed the contest, Garst
speculates that John Henry may have been a man named Henry who was born a
slave to P.A.L. Dabney, the father of the chief engineer of that railroad, in 1850.[12]
Since 2007, the city of Leeds has honored John Henry's legend during an
annual September festival, held on the third weekend in September,
called the Leeds Downtown Folk Festival & John Henry Celebration.[13]
Garst and Nelson have debated the merits of their divergent research conclusions.[14] Other claims have been made over the years that place Henry and his contest in Kentucky or Jamaica.[15]
John Henry is a symbol of physical
strength and endurance, of exploited labor, of the dignity of a human
being against the degradations of the machine age, and of racial pride
and solidarity. During World War II his image was used in U.S.
government propaganda as a symbol of social tolerance and diversity.[18]
In the 1996 film Basquiat, the story of John Henry was told to Basquiat by his friend Benny as words of wisdom.
In 2018, it was announced that Dwayne Johnson would portray the character in a Netflix film, John Henry and the Statesmen.
Development on the film has been delayed due to controversy over
Johnson casting himself as the lead, with John Henry being a dark
skinned black man.[19][20]
In 2020, Terry Crews played a modern-day adaptation of the legend in John Henry, in which he plays a former gang member who takes in two young teens who are on the run from his former gang leader, played by Ludacris. The film was released by Saban Films.[21]
Animation
In 1946, animator George Pal adapted the tale of John Henry into a short film titled John Henry and the Inky-Poo as part of his theatrical stop-motion Puppetoons
series. The short is considered a milestone in American cinema as one
of the first films to have a positive view of African-American folklore.[22][23]
In 1974, Nick Bosustow and David Adams co-produced an 11-minute animated short, The Legend of John Henry, for Paramount Pictures.[24]
The character later appeared in a Walt Disney Feature Animation short film, John Henry (2000). Directed by Mark Henn, plans for theatrical releases in 2000 and 2001 fell through after having a limited Academy Award qualifying run in Los Angeles,[25] a shorter version was released as the only new entry in direct-to-video release, Disney's American Legends (2002). It was eventually released in its original format as an interstitial on the Disney Channel, and later as part of the home video compilation Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection in 2015.
The 88th episode of season 5 of SpongeBob SquarePants, titled SpongeBob vs. The Patty Gadget,
is a reference to the story of John Henry. It features SpongeBob
competing against a machine called The Patty Gadget in an attempt to
keep his job at The Krusty Krab.
John Henry is also referenced in episode 4 of season 6 of the
television show How I Met Your Mother, his legend briefly told through
Marshall's song.
In the season 3 finale (Kimmy Bites an Onion!) of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
a version of The "Ballad of John Henry" is played with lyrics surmising
the fight between Kimmy and a robot to become a crossing-guard. Like
the legend, Kimmy gives her all to beat the robot and in doing so,
effectively sacrifices her life.
Music
The story of John Henry is traditionally told through two types of songs: ballads, commonly called "The Ballad of John Henry", and "hammer songs" (a type of work song), each with wide-ranging and varying lyrics.[2][15] Some songs, and some early folk historian research, conflate the songs about John Henry with those of John Hardy, a West Virginian outlaw.[15] Ballads about John Henry's life typically contain four major components: a premonition
by John Henry as a child that steel-driving would lead to his death,
the lead-up to and the results of the legendary race against the steam
hammer, Henry's death and burial, and the reaction of his wife.[15]
The well-known narrative ballad of "John Henry" is usually sung
in an upbeat tempo. Hammer songs associated with the "John Henry"
ballad, however, are not. Sung more slowly and deliberately, often with a
pulsating beat suggestive of swinging the hammer, these songs usually
contain the lines "This old hammer killed John Henry / but it won't kill
me." Nelson explains that:
... workers managed their labor by setting a "stint," or
pace, for it. Men who violated the stint were shunned ... Here was a
song that told you what happened to men who worked too fast: they died
ugly deaths; their entrails fell on the ground. You sang the song
slowly, you worked slowly, you guarded your life, or you died.[8]:32
There is some controversy among scholars over which came first, the
ballad or the hammer songs. Some scholars have suggested that the "John
Henry" ballad grew out of the hammer songs, while others believe that
the two were always entirely separate.
Songs featuring the story of John Henry have been recorded by
many musical artists and bands of different ethnic backgrounds. These
include:
The American cowpunk band Nine Pound Hammer is named after the traditional description of the hammer John Henry wielded.
Bengalee singer-songwriter and musician Hemanga Biswas
(1912-1987), considered to be as the Father of the Indian People's
Theater Association Movement in Assam inspired by ’John Henry’, the
American ballad translated the song in Bengali as well as Assamese
language and also composed its music for which he was well recognized
among the masses.[46][47] Bangladeshi mass singer Fakir Alamgir later covered Biswas' version of the song.[48][49]
Literature
Henry is the subject of the 1931Roark Bradford novel John Henry, illustrated by noted woodcut artist J. J. Lankes. The novel was adapted into a stage musical in 1940, starring Paul Robeson in the title role.[2] According to Steven Carl Tracy,
Bradford's works were influential in broadly popularizing the John
Henry legend beyond railroad and mining communities and outside of
African American oral histories.[2] In a 1933 article published in The Journal of Negro Education, Bradford's John Henry was criticized for "making over a folk-hero into a clown."[50] A 1948 obituary for Bradford described John Henry as "a better piece of native folklore than Paul Bunyan."[51]
Colson Whitehead's 2001 novel John Henry Days
uses the John Henry myth as story background. Whitehead fictionalized
the John Henry Days festival in Talcott, West Virginia and the release
of the John Henry postage stamp in 1996.[52]
The textbook titled American Music: A Panorama by Daniel
Kingman displays the lyrics of the ballad titled "John Henry", explores
its style and relates the history of the hero. That's in Chapter 2: The
African–American Tradition.
In the comic series DC: The New Frontier, an African American man named John Wilson becomes a vigilante in order to battle the Ku Klux Klan
after his family is lynched. He names himself after John Henry and even
uses John Henry's weapons/tools, two iron sledgehammers. For three
months, he plagues the Klan in Tennessee. Unfortunately, he was wounded, discovered by a white girl, was caught by the Klan, and was burned alive.
The DC Comics superhero Steel's civilian name, "John Henry Irons," is inspired by John Henry.[53] The story of John Henry is further referenced by Steel's weapon of choice, a sledgehammer. In DC's Super Friends #21 (January 2010), Superman encountered the actual John Henry after being placed in the folk tale by the Queen of Fables.
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky is a juvenile fantasy novel about seventh grader Tristan Strong who travels to another world and encounters black American gods. These include Br'er Rabbit, Anansi, and John Henry.
He appears as a character in Peter Clines' novel Paradox Bound.
John Henry was featured as a fictional character in the 2014 video game Wasteland 2. The story is referenced by various NPCs
throughout the game and is also available in full as a series of in
game books which tell the story of the competition between John Henry
and a contingent of robotic workers.[55]
In Civilization IV, the quote "Before that steam drill shall beat me down, I'll die with my hammer in my hand." appears when steel is researched.[57]
The Big Bend Tunnel is a location of the multiplayer videogame Fallout 76, set in Appalachia region. The story surrounding the Miner Miracles quest is a reference to John Henry's competition.
Johnson, Guy B. (1929). John Henry: Tracking Down a Negro Legend. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press
Chappell, Louis W. (1933). John Henry; A Folk-Lore Study. Reprinted 1968. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press
Keats, Ezra Jack (1965). John Henry, An American Legend. New York: Pantheon Books.
Williams, Brett (1983). John Henry: A Bio-Bibliography by Brett Williams. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press
Nelson, Scott. "Who Was John Henry? Railroad Construction, Southern Folklore, and the Birth of Rock and Roll", Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas Summer 2005 2(2): 53–80; doi:10.1215/15476715-2-2-53
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Henry.
Nikola-Lisa W (Spring 1998). "John Henry: Then and Now". African American Review. 32 (1): 51–56. doi:10.2307/3042267. JSTOR3042267.
Bicknell J (Spring 2009). "Reflections on "John Henry": Ethical Issues in Singing Performance". The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. 67 (2): 173–180. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6245.2009.01346.x.
"The Legend of John Henry's Hammer" and "Nine Pound Hammer", both on Blood, Sweat and Tears; Cash also recorded a shorter version of the former as "John Henry" with a different account of the legend for Destination Victoria Station
