Out of Control:

The AIDS Epidemic

in Black America

The Tuskegee

Syphilis Experiment

The U.S. government's 40-year experiment

on black men with syphilis

by Borgna Brunner

---

"The United States government did something that was wrong—deeply, profoundly, morally wrong. It was an outrage to our commitment to integrity and equality for all our citizens... clearly racist." —President Clinton's apology for the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment to the eight remaining survivors, May 16, 1997

For forty years between 1932 and 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) conducted an experiment on 399 black men in the late stages of syphilis. These men, for the most part illiterate sharecroppers from one of the poorest counties in Alabama, were never told what disease they were suffering from or of its seriousness. Informed that they were being treated for “bad blood,” their doctors had no intention of curing them of syphilis at all.

The data for the experiment was to be collected from autopsies of the men, and they were thus deliberately left to degenerate under the ravages of tertiary syphilis—which can include tumors, heart disease, paralysis, blindness, insanity, and death. “As I see it,” one of the doctors involved explained, “we have no further interest in these patients until they die.”

Using Human Beings as Laboratory Animals

Taliaferro Clark, Head of the U.S. Public Health Service at the outset of the experiment.

The true nature of the experiment had to be kept from the subjects to ensure their cooperation. The sharecroppers' grossly disadvantaged lot in life made them easy to manipulate. Pleased at the prospect of free medical care—almost none of them had ever seen a doctor before—these unsophisticated and trusting men became the pawns in what James Jones, author of the excellent history on the subject, Bad Blood, identified as “the longest nontherapeutic experiment on human beings in medical history.”

The study was meant to discover how syphilis affected blacks as opposed to whites—the theory being that whites experienced more neurological complications from syphilis, whereas blacks were more susceptible to cardiovascular damage. How this knowledge would have changed clinical treatment of syphilis is uncertain.

Although the PHS touted the study as one of great scientific merit, from the outset its actual benefits were hazy. It took almost forty years before someone involved in the study took a hard and honest look at the end results, reporting that “nothing learned will prevent, find, or cure a single case of infectious syphilis or bring us closer to our basic mission of controlling venereal disease in the United States.”

When the experiment was brought to the attention of the media in 1972, news anchor Harry Reasoner described it as an experiment that “used human beings as laboratory animals in a long and inefficient study of how long it takes syphilis to kill someone.”

A Heavy Price in the Name of Bad Science

To ensure that the men would show up for a painful and potentially dangerous spinal tap, the PHS doctors misled them with a letter full of promotional hype: “Last Chance for Special Free Treatment.” The fact that autopsies would eventually be required was also concealed.

By the end of the experiment, 28 of the men had died directly of syphilis, 100 were dead of related complications, 40 of their wives had been infected, and 19 of their children had been born with congenital syphilis. How had these men been induced to endure a fatal disease in the name of science?

To persuade the community to support the experiment, one of the original doctors admitted it “was necessary to carry on this study under the guise of a demonstration and provide treatment.” At first, the men were prescribed the syphilis remedies of the day—bismuth, neoarsphenamine, and mercury— but in such small amounts that only 3 percent showed any improvement.

These token doses of medicine were good public relations and did not interfere with the true aims of the study. Eventually, all syphilis treatment was replaced with “pink medicine”—aspirin.

To ensure that the men would show up for a painful and potentially dangerous spinal tap, the PHS doctors misled them with a letter full of promotional hype: “Last Chance for Special Free Treatment.” The fact that autopsies would eventually be required was also concealed.

As a doctor explained, “If the colored population becomes aware that accepting free hospital care means a post-mortem, every darky will leave Macon County...” Even the Surgeon General of the United States participated in enticing the men to remain in the experiment, sending them certificates of appreciation after 25 years in the study.

Following Doctors' Orders

It takes little imagination to ascribe racist attitudes to the white government officials who ran the experiment, but what can one make of the numerous African Americans who collaborated with them? The experiment's name comes from the Tuskegee Institute, the black university founded by Booker T. Washington. Its affiliated hospital lent the PHS its medical facilities for the study, and other predominantly black institutions as well as local black doctors also participated. A black nurse, Eunice Rivers, was a central figure in the experiment for most of its forty years.

The Veterans' Administration Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama. Some of the study's post-mortem exams were conducted here.

The promise of recognition by a prestigious government agency may have obscured the troubling aspects of the study for some. A Tuskegee doctor, for example, praised “the educational advantages offered our interns and nurses as well as the added standing it will give the hospital.” Nurse Rivers explained her role as one of passive obedience: “we were taught that we never diagnosed, we never prescribed; we followed the doctor's instructions!”

It is clear that the men in the experiment trusted her and that she sincerely cared about their well-being, but her unquestioning submission to authority eclipsed her moral judgment. Even after the experiment was exposed to public scrutiny, she genuinely felt nothing ethical had been amiss.

One of the most chilling aspects of the experiment was how zealously the PHS kept these men from receiving treatment. When several nationwide campaigns to eradicate venereal disease came to Macon County, the men were prevented from participating. Even when penicillin—the first real cure for syphilis—was discovered in the 1940s, the Tuskegee men were deliberately denied the medication.

During World War II, 250 of the men registered for the draft and were consequently ordered to get treatment for syphilis, only to have the PHS exempt them. Pleased at their success, the PHS representative announced: “So far, we are keeping the known positive patients from getting treatment.” The experiment continued in spite of the Henderson Act (1943), a public health law requiring testing and treatment for venereal disease, and in spite of the World Health Organization's Declaration of Helsinki (1964), which specified that “informed consent” was needed for experiments involving human beings.

Blowing the Whistle

The PHS did not accept the media's comparison of Tuskegee with the experiments performed by Nazi doctors on Jewish victims during World War II. Yet the PHS offered the same defense offered at the Nuremberg trials — they were just carrying out orders.

The story finally broke in the Washington Star on July 25, 1972, in an article by Jean Heller of the Associated Press. Her source was Peter Buxtun, a former PHS venereal disease interviewer and one of the few whistle blowers over the years. The PHS, however, remained unrepentant, claiming the men had been “volunteers” and “were always happy to see the doctors,” and an Alabama state health officer who had been involved claimed “somebody is trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.”

Under the glare of publicity, the government ended their experiment, and for the first time provided the men with effective medical treatment for syphilis. Fred Gray, a lawyer who had previously defended Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, filed a class action suit that provided a $10 million out-of-court settlement for the men and their families. Gray, however, named only whites and white organizations as defendants in the suit, portraying Tuskegee as a black and white case when it was in fact more complex than that—black doctors and institutions had been involved from beginning to end.

The PHS did not accept the media's comparison of Tuskegee with the appalling experiments performed by Nazi doctors on their Jewish victims during World War II. Yet in addition to the medical and racist parallels, the PHS offered the same morally bankrupt defense offered at the Nuremberg trials: they claimed they were just carrying out orders, mere cogs in the wheel of the PHS bureaucracy, exempt from personal responsibility.

The study's other justification—for the greater good of science—is equally spurious. Scientific protocol had been shoddy from the start. Since the men had in fact received some medication for syphilis in the beginning of the study, however inadequate, it thereby corrupted the outcome of a study of “untreated syphilis.”

The Legacy of Tuskegee

	Related Links:
	Black History Month Features U.S. Public Health Service   Tuskegee National Historic Site Tuskegee University (formerly the Tuskegee Institute) Internet Resources on the Tuskegee Study Clinton's Apology for the Experiment

In 1990, a survey found that 10 percent of African Americans believed that the U.S. government created AIDS as a plot to exterminate blacks, and another 20 percent could not rule out the possibility that this might be true. As preposterous and paranoid as this may sound, at one time the Tuskegee experiment must have seemed equally farfetched.

Who could imagine the government, all the way up to the Surgeon General of the United States, deliberately allowing a group of its citizens to die from a terrible disease for the sake of an ill-conceived experiment? In light of this and many other shameful episodes in our history, African Americans' widespread mistrust of the government and white society in general should not be a surprise to anyone.

1. All quotations in the article are from Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, James H. Jones, expanded edition (New York: Free Press, 1993).

via infoplease.com

Feature Media:

Donald Harrison

ft. Christian Scott

at Symphony Space

Today we are featuring footage from  the legendary Donald “Big Chief” Harrison’s recent performance at Symphony Space in NYC featuring special guest, acclaimed trumpet innovator (and Donald’s nephew) Christian Scott. According to the venue, this was surprisingly the first concert Harrison headlined with his own band. As such Harrison and company took to the stage for many hours switching from jazz to funk, New Orleans to New York City and more. This particular piece closed out the first set with Harrison inviting a few very talented local music students to share the stage with himself and Christian Scott.

Also be sure to take a listen to the extensive recording projects which Scott and Harrison have performed together on.

Selected Discography:

Two of a Kind (2010)

The Ballads (2009)

The Burners (2009)

The Survivor (2006)

Real Life Stories (2002)

Call for Papers:

Africa Century International

African Writers Conference 2012

in South Africa (Africa-wide)

Deadline: 31 July 2012

The wRite associates, in partnership with the University of the Free State, invite the submission of abstracts for individual papers and panels for the 2012 Africa Century International African Writers Conference. The Conference will take place during the 21st anniversary of the International African Writers’ Day, the aim of which is to “afford the African people a moment of pause within which to reflect on the contribution of African Writers to the development of the Continent” (OAU Conference of African Ministers of Education and Culture, 1991).

This conference aims to bring together writers, academics, as well as intellectual and cultural workers from around the globe to celebrate a century of literary and cultural production across the Continent and Diaspora. The commemoration of major milestones in African history – such as the 100th anniversary of Africa’s oldest liberation movement, the African National Congress – offers important opportunities for critical reflection on the personal, social and political trajectories that yielded significant decolonising gains across the Continent and the Diaspora. Yet the risk that attends these commemorative projects is that the spectacular will be privileged over the ordinary, or that dominant, one-sided accounts of social transformation and resistance will be favoured over the perspectives of those who occupy the margins of colonial, anti-colonial and post-colonial historiographies.

CALL FOR PAPERS
University of the Free State, Bloemfontein,
Free State Province, South Africa
7-10 November 2012
From Resistance to Creative Mediation:
Writing and Literary Intellectuals’ Influence
on the Liberation Struggles and Political Impact
on Literary Discourse and Developments

Africa’s literary and cultural workers have always been in a unique position to straddle this tension between the extraordinary and the ordinary, the mono- and the multi-perspectival. The work of creative mediation done in literary and other cultural texts has the unique capacity to grapple with contradiction, nuance, uncertainty, and even failure as it recasts larger political shifts and spectacular scenes of social upheaval through the lenses of experiential interiorities and imaginaries.

As we look back on a century of African imaginative production, we hope to generate an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary dialogue on both the historical and future role of literary and other cultural texts in making sense of day-to-day life in contexts of colonialism, imperialism, anti-colonial resistance, post-colonialism, neo-colonialism, civil war, neo-liberal globalisation, and ecological destruction, to name but a few. We are interested in papers that celebrate both canonical and marginalised writers from across the Continent and African Diaspora, as well as in papers that expand the scope of critical analysis beyond the conventionally ‘literary’.

Areas of inquiry may include, but are not limited to, the following sub-themes and questions, particularly in their relation to resistance and mediation as the two pillars of output of African and Diaspora writers over the past century:

• Historical landmarks of the twentieth century in literature: Celebrating a century of writing and literary intellectuals’ influence on the liberation struggle & political impact on literary discourse & developments

• Resistance, liberation/emancipation and creative mediation of identities: Xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia; race and epistemologies of ignorance, class and the ‘post-transitional’; feminism/ womanism, gender and sexuality in African literature and film; the figure of the child in African literature/film.

• Media for dialogue and resistance: Oral traditions and folklore; African life-writing, memoires and (auto)biographies; memory and memorialisation.

• Citizenship, globalisation and the African nation-state in the making: National liberation struggles and African literature/film; citizenship and mobility past and present; African literature and the African Diaspora; mediating violence, trauma and civil war; biopolitics past and present; the continuities and discontinuities of pan-Africanisms and other narratives; climate change.

• Language, culture and power: Translation and intercultural contact; language debates; censorship of/in African literature and other forms of artistic/cultural production; contested literacies; and power, co-optation and the digital divide.

• Becoming, belonging and acknowledging: Writers’ organisations, protection, promotion of authors’ rights; and acknowledgement of writers’ contribution and excellence.

This Conference is part of the context of the AFRICA CENTURY LITERARY ART AND ORATURE: CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS CONVERSATIONS SERIES, which started off at the National Library of South Africa on 30 March 2012. The Inaugural Lecture was presented by Professor Mbulelo Mzamane, on the theme: Pan-African Letters and Cultural Affirmation.

Please submit a 300 word proposal, along with a short biographical note to: Prof. Heidi Hudson at: hudsonh@ufs.ac.za by 31 July, 2012.

Notification of acceptance of abstracts: throughout until 13 August 2012

Programme finalised: 14 September 2012

Registration opens: 13 August 2012

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For queries: contact Ms Sindiswa Seakhoa at info@writeassociates.co.za

For submissions: hudsonh@ufs.ac.za

Website: http://www.writeassociates.co.za/

3rd International Conference on

Caribbean Studies:

“Looking to the Caribbean

—Film, Literature, and Gender Studies”

The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at Marquette University-Milwaukee and the Department of World Languages at the University of North Florida are sponsoring the 3rd International Conference on Caribbean Studies. Organized around the theme “Looking to the Caribbean: Film, Literature, and Gender Studies” [Miradas al Caribe: Cine, Literatura y Estudios de Género], it will be held on April 11-13, 2013, at Marquette University Milwaukee in Wisconsin. The keynote speaker will be Zoé Valdés. The deadline for abstracts is January 15, 2013.

Abstracts should not be more than a page long and should include paper title, affiliation, address, telephone number and email. Presentations are limited to 20 minutes and a panel/session will be composed of a maximum of 3 presenters. Proposals for panels/sessions should be no more than 2 pages long and should include title, brief explanation of the session, title of each presentation, and information of each participant. Papers may be read in English, French, or Spanish. Graduate students are encouraged to participate. Registration fees of $125.00 for faculty and professionals and $65.00 for students and retirees will be due upon acceptance.

Abstracts in Spanish or English should be sent (as a Word document) to armando.gonzalez-perez@marquette.edu or to j.febles.58143@unf.edu; abstracts in French should be sent to jean-pierre.lafouge@marquette.edu

[Many thanks to Peter Jordens for bringing this item to our attention.]

Sasheer Zamata

Comedian

Hilariously Discusses

Her Street Harassment

Ordeal

July 25, 2012 by Britni Danielle

No matter the season, many of us experience street harassment every single day. And while we may have wanted to have a snappy comeback ready for our harasser, more often than not we probably walked away quickly — and safely. While street harassment is all too common for women around the world, one comedian decided to flip her experience on its head and look at it from her harasser’s perspective.

Sharing her tale for the inaugural installment of Chioke Nassor’s series Storytime, New York-based comedian Sasheer Zamata shared her run-in with a flasher.

Although she says she should have handled it differently, her reaction to the flasher was extremely nonchalant. She remembers, “I turned down his dick as if he were trying to sell a CD or something.”

With biting humor and a willingness to be honest about the experience (and her flasher’s point of view), Zamata turned a horrible incident into a teachable (and comical) moment.

Take a look.

Interview:

W. Kamau Bell

On His Chris Rock Produced

FX Comedy Show

• Posted by Eye Candy on July 17, 2012 

On August 9 comedian and AP member W. Kamau Bell's new late night series "Totally Biased" expands a fresh FX lineup to humorously translate opinions on socio-political issues. The six episode run is executive produced alongside award winning comedian Chris Rock, whom he credits for this opportunity. Bell says: 'I wasn't getting anywhere just being a comic and that's when I started my "Bell Curve" show ("The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About An Hour"). Chris Rock happened to catch this and decided that he wanted to help an "unfamous black guy get a show" so thanks to modern media mediums, Mr. Chris Rock and FX for taking a chance on me like they've done with many other shows on the network.'
Afropunk recently had the pleasure of chatting with W. Kamau Bell and gain a more personal insight of the man that was not offered in any other bio sourced online, in an effort to understand his interpretation of comedic art.

Interview by Alicia Maria Golden

So the point is you're totally biased? Which side did you land on?
'I've lived in San Francisco [forever] and thus steeped in it like a green teabag and as a result you'd be absurd in thinking that you would ever get me to believe that gay marriage should be illegal or that Mexicans can't come work here [in the States], or that Islam is a scary religion. Most times on t.v. when people talk about politics [it's like] you have to believe in what they're saying but because I'm biased and that's not what I believe, I can't be swayed.'

Your entire gig is based on opinion. What are your thoughts on the state or relevance of an opinion?
'I think we live in a time where all people think their opinion is so important and because of social media we all have a platform to put them out there and there is no limitation to what we can share. This is fed publicly day and night and depending how much and how long you have been putting [opinions] out you have a large audience to feed it to. In the last couple days with the Daniel Tosh rape joke, for example, we see Twitter is a brutal place. My idea of it and my job of a comedian is to see what did I get out of it and how can I push the conversation forward in a different way through jokes. Because I'm totally biased I am pulling these various beliefs out of people so you can see all these different sides [inspired by one topic] and as a comedian I can put it out there and build the expansion on it. So as a father, to a daughter, and a husband I have to be 100% totally against rape so that's what I'm pushing.'

You present some sensitive topics "comedically". Any word to the "sensitive"?
'People think that when you make a joke out of something that you are trivializing it because people are laughing at it and the goal of a comedian is really to elevate it such as Richard Pryor, or Margaret Cho or Chris Rock amongst others. It's in the eye of the beholder and in terms of something like the"Bell Curve" joke there will be a person from either race that will take it either way . It depends on the individual and also the environment of where the joke is told. The nature and truth of comedy is that the humor is only measured by the people who are laughing. In music, a topic can be taken very emotionally so its translated differently amongst that audience but In comedy it's a very black and white determination [and to many] that topic should not be joked about if they disagree.
People can have such visceral, rage heavy reactions, and such with the Daniel Tosh rape situation there is a line between that topic and race that shows the severity to which these things will be taken personally or offensively. I think the art form of comedy makes things usable as a baseline for truth and the truth you tell can be absorbed [differently] by some. Comedy makes it a clean line to tell how you feel. We are going to touch upon [the subjects of] gay marriage and rape without with being too forceful.'

Why comedy and When?
'As a kid it literally is that I wanted to be, or a super hero and that was pretty early in life. [With comedy] you have to learn how to start where to go and what to do. My first show was at a coffee shop in Chicago where I had to pay a dollar to perform in front of about 10-15 people most of which were playing chess and looked up from time to time, that's the typical auspicious beginning for most comics. You have to keep doing it to improve and get more work and feedback from other comics to develop. There was a point where I wasn't getting anywhere just being a comic and that's when I started my "Bell Curve" show.'

What can we expect from this new offering "Totally Biased"?
'I have this opportunity to put my perspectives out. We are still in the creative stages and putting things together and I want to make a funny piece and make sure 'the people' get their point across. Being who I am through life experiences I have a perspective that the average t.v. journalist does not and cannot offer and I'd like to put that out there on this scale.
I'm opening my self up to a big stage and there is a lot of criticism to come and I think it's best to put my hand down and do the best that I can and see what happens. Unlike a musician, with comedy, you can't go away and reinvent yourself… your career is unfolding in front of people and you are evolving your opinion in front of an audience and with the 21st Century you have a permanent record of this image and time when you believed this [particular message]. I want to be as responsible as I can. There's a lot of people who like me and believe in me and that's what keeps me going and if I fall flat on my face I want it to be on the floor of my own offices… I can only be so much and want I to make something I'm proud of.'

Aside from comedy Kamau is also a solo performance Instructor and Principal Director, and he happened to meet his wife at one of her friend's shows. You can find out more about this other role he plays and some of the amazing show's he's directing at http://www.soloperformanceworkshop.org.
There is something to be said about a man who makes a way of life doing exactly what they want to do. Give the show a chance it's worth some laughs to tune in!

On The Real

New Orleans Second Line . . . .

Posted on July 25, 2012 by nicholaspayton

The Second Line Has Become The Mainline

It used to be that the second line stood for those who were in the 2nd part of the caravan behind the family leaving the funeral home or church to send the body off. Now, it’s all about the second line. In fact, they don’t call them funerals anymore, they say, “We havin’ a Second Line!” It has all become a big party. When I first heard of what they were going to do with Uncle Lionel’s body, I was taken aback, but I felt slightly comforted at the notion that there was an announcement for no photography to be allowed. Then, the next thing I see is a photograph on NOLA.com of Unc’s deceased body propped upright like a figure in a wax museum. I don’t know if this was Unc’s wish. If it was, so be it, but the event and the coverage that accompanied his memorial is evidence of how the New Orleans tradition has devolved into a sideshow.

No Photos, Please!

Since when has it been OK to post photos of a deceased musician all over the place? I guess the advent of the Internet has served to desensitize us to the fact that we’re dealing with human beings like avatars on a screen. Life has become The Matrix.

The journalist of Uncle Lionel’s obit focused solely on the fact that his body was standing up. Nothing about the man or musician in the whole piece. At least the journalist is consistent in that he disrespects artists living and dead alike.

It also went on about how fellow morticians wanted to know the “trade secrets” for arranging Lionel Batiste’s body upright and recounts of opportunists outside of the procession selling “Uncle Lionel” memorabilia. Really, people? Is this what it’s come to?

Y’all Doin’ Too Much

Uncle Lionel was a “character,” but he was not a character. He was a real person. He wasn’t a brass band cap, or a wrist watch on his hand, or any other personal affect. He was a man. A man with a family. A pillar of the community who deserves our respect. We no longer respect our elders as we should, neither in life or in passing. I remember when we used to send our soldiers off with respect. I sound like an old man, but it wasn’t that long ago. I remember when we had a solemn service for our elders, now it’s just a spectacle filled with paparazzi and onlookers eating barbecue who could care less. SMS = Sad, miserable situation . . .

New Orleans Is Becoming A Caricature Of Its Former Self

We have always celebrated the passing of our loved ones. It’s a beautiful tradition. I know traditions evolve, but certain foundational aspects should remain a constant. Water adapts and has many forms, but it’s still water at its essence. New Orleans is a city of dichotomies. Here in the Crescent, we rock birth and death in the cradle of our arms. We recognize that every death is a birth; the beginning of a new journey. We mourn the passing of our loved ones, cut the body loose, and send our children home on a happy note. But where’s the balance? This ‘laissez-faire,’ ‘le bon ton roule’ disposition has begun to serve as a detriment to the things we should hold dear.

I remember when my dad passed, a very dear friend posted a video of my father’s unauthorized “memorial” on their Facebook page. When I saw that, I was crushed. Not so much at the fact of the memorial, but at the participants who largely forgot that a family has just lost someone.

Late night at the Walgreen’s on St. Charles, I bumped into one of the city’s Grand Marshalls right after my dad passed and was amazed at how they could make my father’s death all about how they were going to upstage the other Grand Marshalls at the memorial. How dare they make my father’s death about them buckjumping at a second line. This person was totally numb to the fact that I had just lost my father and my dearest friend. I can tell you countless stories of other family members who have suffered similar disregard, but will spare you for the moment.

There is a respectful way to celebrate the deceased. We’ve all but forgotten that.

Port-O-Let Bon Ton Roule

It used to be that we would talk about the tourists who would come to our city with the express purpose of indulging in as much debauchery as possible. We’ve now become those tourists in our own city. Every day is Mardi Gras. Any excuse to show your tits. Don’t get me wrong, I love tits, but they mean nothing without the people they’re connected to.

We’ve become That Place. We are now an episode in our own show. Celebrities love to come to live in New Orleans because it’s one of the few places they can live in anonymity. No one cares about a Hollywood star here because the cat who hangs outside the corner grocery store is an icon. That used to be a beautiful thing until it distorted itself. Now you got cats who hang outside the store on the corner with hopes of fame, or the cat who will never leave that corner because of his established stardom.

No one in New Orleans goes to see a show anymore, they go to BE the show. #mfcomn

So What’s The Answer?

One of the biggest things that has plagued New Orleans is its history. There has always been a large contingency of folks here who believe that if New Orleans becomes a forward-thinking city, it will lose its character. News flash folks: it already has. It has been on a slow, steady demise over the years, and the flood that Katrina brought damn near finished the job. I though at least with the flood we would have a clean slate. A chance to fearlessly start over since, in many ways, all was lost so we had nothing to lose. I feel we missed that opportunity, but we still have a chance. This is a city that embraces birth and death, so why can’t we embrace tradition and move forward, as well?

These are not mutually exclusive ideals.

They can coexist in the same place without either losing its integrity.

“And A Little One Shall Lead Them . . .”

I am not old. I am still very much a young man, but I find myself having to speak to things that most folks don’t seem to want to say. I get tired of always having to be the one to speak out. It is not what I set out to do in this life. In fact, I’m a very shy person, but I cannot be silent and allow what I see happening in our culture go unchecked. I would love to shut-up and just play the trumpet, but somebody needs to say something, and oftentimes, I find it being me. As Rufus Wainwright says in his piece Jericho, “”Guess I’ll have to put my trumpet back in the case and get behind this here canon covered in lace.”

It’s All About Love

Respect is love and love is respect. It’s just that simple. That is The Answer.

#BAM

- Nicholas Payton aka The Savior of Archaic Pop