The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 57, No. 7, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 16, 1969 Page: 1 of 10
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'foo. mcutty ftMftlc k&ve died . .
"Someone's singing Lord . .
"Victor Anthony Huddins . .
"Kumbaya, my Lord . .
"Alfred Kenneth Kurtis . .
of the seeds you've begun to sow
what is it like to be dead
do you feel it when you
are dropped into the box
do you know it when you
begin to stink
i wish i knew
what is it like to be dead
is it possible to ^noiv
do you get to see the fruits
of the seeds you've begun to sow
here in the garden
i wish that i could /(now
"John Allen Pierce . . ." The names
go on. And on. I think . . . "He's dead."
But before I can even consider the power
of it, a new name's been read. Ten new
names. There are so many names. So
many names. And they're all dead. Every
one of them. They are dead, and the
the living- sing. We mean no disrespect.
We sing because we don't know what else
to do. What do you do in the face of
death ?
what is it like to die
what do you do when you know
there's no one to cry
when there's only mud
and grime and blood in your eye
and cold steel in your brain
what do you think
do you see a red, white, and blue flag
or do you see only the red
of blood and the black of swamp mud
or does the pain that crushes your head
cover it all except a plea
kumbaya my lord.
. . that too many people have died."
The singing goes on. The living go on.
And so do the names of the dead. The
song is sad and helpless, but hopeful.
But you cannot escape the names—all
dead. It seems colder now. No one has
mentioned the war yet. We say that
we are here to get together. It hasn't
happened yet, but the music is. beginning
to work. Many of the people , don't be-
long here—they aren't together—they
can't be together. But they are welcome.
If yoii want to love—you must love all.
We can only hope that the music and
our togetherness can work for them. It
would be good for them—and us. I do
not know most of the people here. But
I feel it. It is here. Someone wanted to
sing a war song— a civil war song—
but we are not ready yet. We're getting
together now. The war is later. We
must be together first. The day was
made for us to get together. When we
are together—then we can do it. Our
power exists in our togetherness. Not
power—that's a bad word. We are here
to stop power. ". . . the times they are
a-changin." The times must change. We
must change them. It is still building.
what is it that grows among people
you can't see it, it can't be felt
but you know when it's there
it's big, it's hot, it'll melt
and gentle, and kmd, and love
and gentile, and kind, and love
It's warm inside. These are all people
—and they live and breathe and feel like
people. So there's coffee and warmth
inside. And you can sit and try to look
at what you've felt. But you want to go
out and feel some more. Everyone has
buttons—with American flags on them
—and they say "America Hurrah." But
to so many we're just commies, anachar-
ists, "peace queers." We don't want to
burn America—we want to fix her. Just
because you want to change something
that doesn't mean you want to destroy
it. ". . . the times they are a changin."
I was called a "peace queer" today. I
didn't think I was a peace queer. I know
I'm not a peace queer. Maybe—maybe
Christ was a peace queer. If so—I could
be a peace queer. Peace queer—that's
not a nice name.
have you ever been hated
not for what you are
for how you look
because you're not the same
There are fewer people now. Soon
there will be fewer. "... I dreamed
there was an end to war." The war.
Now we sing about an end to war. Can
there ever be an end to war? Or are
the ends of wars only in dreams. If
they are, we have to dream. There are
more names, more dead. Did they want
to die for their country? Were they
willing? Or afraid to go to Canada or
prison? I wonder if the people who make
wars know what it is like to die? Would
there be" no war if they—not us—were
the ones to die? Why must anyone die
in such an absurdity as war. I'll bet
dying isn't any fun. We believe the war
is a mistake. Many, many Americans
believe this war is a mistake. But still
people die. Young people—not the ones
who make war. Our President, jusfa few
days ago, said that he would not be the
first American president to lose a war.
Can the war be won ? How many people
will die because of Mr. Nixon's pride?
That's why we are here—to stop the
dying. To show everyone that we want
no more killing.
"Hey Jude . . . take a sad song and
make it better." We would like to make
it better. Love can make it better. Peo-
ple can make it better. Life can make it
better. Life.
The night goes on, the names go on,
the singing goes on. I'm afraid that the
war will go on. I think we will not
change it. But we try. We have to try.
And we hope. There is only hope and
trying. Kumbaya my Lord. There must
be help somewhere. -GREG COLOMB
'Hurrah' ~ striving toward chaos
DR. J. DENNIS HUSTON
Late last week Sandy Havens
and the Kice Players received a
call from a Houston woman whcF
had heard that they were soon
to stage a play called "Ameri-
ca Hurrah." Its title intimated
that it was just the thing she
"was looking for, and she was
checking—because you can nev-
er quite trust those long-haired
hippies that hang around col-
lege theaters—to see if the play
would be suitable for a group
of Girl Scouts. Sandy smiled
and politiely discouraged his cal-
ler: No, unless the Girl Scouts
had changed a good deal re-
cently, it was not their kind of
play.
No, sir, Jean-Claude van Ital-
lie's "America Hurraah," three
loosely related one-act plays, is
not for Girl Scouts. And it is
not, either, for some of the
more conservative members of
the Rice- Houston community.
After all, you don't have to go
to the theater these days to
encounter politicians earnestly
mouthing stupid platitudes, or'
to see TV newsreels showing
destruction, dismemberment,
and death is Viet Nam, or to
find ugly, unimaginative graf-
fiti scrawled across the walls
of our public private places.
Even more disconcerting for
the play-goer may be the struc-
ture of the work itself. "When
I go to the theater," we can
imagine a fat man with a cigar
camplaining during intermis-
sion, "I go to the entertained."
And his idea of entertainment
involves some process of identi-
fication: we watch and identify
with a character or group of
charcacters involved in an ac-
tion that has a beginning, a
middle, and an end. Tradition-
ally, character and plot are the
essence of drama, and in "Ame-
rica Hurrah" there is very lit-
tle character and no plot, in the
usual sense of the word.
What there is instead is a re-
markable kind of energy, some-
Hiil Gaskill
the rice thresher
rice university houston, texas
volume 57, number 7 october 16. 1969
Gommunity associates at Hanszen
discuss nitty gritty city politics
thing that William Arrowsmith,
in a slightly different context,
has called turbulence. Where
this turbulence comes from is.
hard to say. In part it is the
result of the violence and ener-
gy in the language of the play
itself, which at one time as-
saults us with the tastelessly
monotonous and staccato-like
phrase of the advertising pitch-
man who will not shut up, and
at another time gives us the
broken, apologetically desperate
cries of people isolated not only
from other human beings but
also from their own past selves:
"I'm dead I said to several
people and started to push them
over. I'm dead, thank you, I
said, thank you, please, I said,
I'm dead, until two or three of
them got hold of my arms and
hustled me out. I'm sorry, I
said, I couldn't come because
of the accident. I'm sorry. Ex-
cuse me."
But the turbulence comes
(continued on page 9)
By DAVID WILLIAMS
The upcoming Houston May-
oral and School Board election
was the topic of discussion
Tuesday at the Hanszen Col-
lege Night. Mrs. Gertrude Barn-
stone, Ray Miller, J. D. Sart-
welle, and Rep. Curtis Graves,
all Hanszen Community Asso-
ciates, were the guest speakers.
Mrs. Barnstone, a liberal who
has been fighting the conserva-
tive majoi-ity of the School
Board for the past few years, is
not running for re-election. She
pointed out two issues in the
School Board campaign, inte-
gration and kindergarten.
The School Board has been
ordered by the Federal Court to
draw up a plan for integration
of the school system by Jan. 1.
The present freedom of choice
plan is unacceptable. But the
board has decided to hold a ref-
ex*endum on freedom of choice
anyway.
The other issue stems from
the discontinuation of free kin-
dergarten this year. It seems
that the school district has a
surplus in their budget that
equals the cost of the kinder-
garten, and a lot of parents
aren't too happy about the
board's refusal to reinstate a
pre-school program.
Miller, the news director of
KPRC, pointed out that the
Houston people usually re-elect
their city officials, but that this
year it looks like there is going
to be an upheaval in the School
Board, , mainly because of the
kindergarten issue.
Sartwelle was Price Daniels'
campaign manager in Harris
County fo reight years, and
calls himself a backroom poli-
tician. He emphasized the need
for more law and order, spe-
cifically, more courts for Hous-
ton where 10,000 people are
awaiting trial.
Dissent to the ruling powers
in Houston was voiced by Rep.
Curtis Graves, a candidate for
mayor. He stated, "Far too long
we have elected real estate hus-
tlers" to the office of mayor.
"We need someone who is con-
cerned about people." He called
the School Board's referendum
a play to "get out the negative
vote." The courts have already
ruled against freedom of choice,
so the only purpose of a ref-
erendum would be to stir up
people.
When asked about "law and
order," Graves retplied: "The
true function of law is justice,
not order. Nobody wants an
orderly society without justice
ordeily society without justice,
and better policemen, people
who are scientifically trained."
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Murray, Jack. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 57, No. 7, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 16, 1969, newspaper, October 16, 1969; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245064/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.