After the War Between the States, students of Louisiana history enter the dark and sad age of Reconstruction.  In her fine book, Reconstruction in Louisiana After 1868, Ella Lonn, Ph.D., reveals how the actions and corruption of carpetbaggers (opportunist from the North), scalawags (reconstructed Southerners), military and government officials ruined the state’s  economy, elections,  and education.  The purpose of this blog post is to share one example of how often in Reconstruction appointments and funds for education were misappropriated and funneled into the salaries of pathetically unqualified  people in important educational positions.  Lonn says this: “School directors were often unable to write their names. A letter (mailed Jan. 9, 1972) from the president of the school  board of Carroll Parish, as printed in the National Republican, is so ungrammatical and misspelled that it is almost impossible to read it. Here is the actual letter:

Cor J P York I visited new Welsh Peish in the crimes finnen the White People rebelling Jest as much as the dead When you was on the ball field Dod Swan Leven in Bellevue says by god he Wald like sweet the Dam Yankes start a public school in bellvue  are linden Orel any Whare between monroe an Schevepoer he Shat down a Young man I sew Well my names Simon Ford on Widarvne lone Place all so Jhon head and Jhon akfard given in bellvue cauth a young man name Anderson Smith Who Went to see a Young collard lady step him Struck Him 3000 licks with a new caw hide do for God Sake Sen them People petectheon. I promised them I Wold Send You.” (page 81)

This letter from the President of the School Board is only one of many examples of how federal and state government failed education in those Reconstruction days. My fear is that, because of the control and influence of the teacher unions, WOK administrators, the mindless movements to erase Southern history, arbitrary government mandates and executive decisions, Louisiana education could face a second Reconstruction no less painful than the first. I hope you will save and share this blog post.

For several years, I have worked with the Union Parish Library in Farmerville, Louisiana. In addition to having me present programs at the library and at local schools, Stephanie Herrmann, the director, along with her staff, have been great promoters of my books. Here is a flier of my upcoming event that I am proud to be a part of:

The Isleños of Louisiana: On the Water’s Edge by Samantha Perez

     I first learned of the Isleños of Louisiana happened when I did research for my Texas History Songs & Stories presentation I do for public and private schools. Around 1731,  I learned of the Canary Islanders who were sent to Texas. Over 50 settled in San Antonio. Juan Seguin was one of their descendants. The Handbook of Texas says, “A number of the old families of San Antonio trace their descent from the Canary Island colonists. In 1971 a Texas Historical Marker honoring the Canary Islanders and their role in the development of San Antonio was erected on the Main Plaza of San Antonio.”

As I do a “Songs & Stories” of Louisiana presentation in schools, libraries, and festivals, etc., I felt the need to some research on the Isleños of Louisiana. I was delighted to discover Perez’ book about them.  Printed by the History Press, a division of Arcadia, who also owns my previous publishers of Pelican and River Road Press, it is a compact, informative resource for anyone wishing to know more about the mysterious and little known people who came to Louisiana from the Canary Islands and settle in St. Bernard Parish in the 1700s.

The seven chapters of the book take the reader from the journey of the Isleños  from the Canary Islands to the marshes of Southeastern Louisiana where their culture survived and blossomed for centuries.  Perez develops a narrative as to how they overcame the challenges of war, hurricanes, and government incompetence that they faced.  Perez shares the unique heritage, traditions, documentaries, museums, their unique Spanish dialect, religion, history, strength of their community, and culture of these Spanish islanders who made their living from trapping and the sea.

Perez reveals  the resources  one can use to discover the unique foods, cultural dress, customs, festivals, and their love for and connection to the environment. One fascinating discovery is of the décimas, the a cappella folk songs of the Isleños. Isleños fought in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, WWI and WWII.

If you are interest in Louisiana History, you will love this book.  You can order it HERE: 

Samizdat: The Ghost of Alexandr Solzhenitsyn

  I never thought this day would come to America. The liberal left, the media, the governmental deep state have determined to crush and gain control over the MAGA movement that President Trump started. They began by immediately censoring the opinions, thoughts, books, art, movies, and protests of half of the American population. Twitter and Facebook have already closed the accounts of a huge percentage of its followers. The mainstream media (television and newspapers) have

In any war, attacking and closing down communication systems is a tested tactic. If the enemy can’t communicate, they can’t organize well enough to defeat you. I think they underestimate the power of the truth and the determination of 80-million American citizens.

It is time for Samizdat to reemerge.

Samizdat is the clandestine creating, copying, and distribution of literature banned or censored by the state, especially formerly in the communist countries of eastern Europe. It is literature that has no hope of being published in normal channels or if the writing is politically suspect. It is underground self-publishing that was passed from individual to individual. Writing and reading samizdat is a form of dissident activity, of resistance. With the increased pressure and propaganda of media, the schemes of political figures and powerful liberal elite, and tech monopolies, an underground press is needed.

Samizdat places the acts of writing, creating, and distribution upon the individual, As *Vladimir Bukivsky, Russian-born dissident in the 50s-70sk said about samizdat: “I write it myself, edit it myself, censor it myself, publish it myself, distribute it myself, and spend time in prison for it myself.” Think of how many American citizens get their information about politics, the arts, religion, and what’s really going on in the real America. Perhaps it’s a good thing that we will be forced to find other ways to express ourselves, to protest our treatment, and to change our society.

What forms will/could the new samizdat take?
1. People may learn to write real letters again.
2. New TV, radio, and newspaper media will emerge, though they will risk the censorship of the Deep State.
3. I predict that short wave radio stations will reemerge, a kind of Radio Free America.
4. There will be more spoken word, people sharing openly until pressure increases to control public speech.
5. American blogs, podcasts, and newspapers will move underground and build new audiences.

Alexandr Solzhenitsyn changed the world and the Soviet Union by Samizdat. I’ve been rereading his works of again. Besides saying, “I told you this would happen in Warning to the West,” I think his ghost would sadly shake his head and say, “Your mainstream media and the political Deep State have damaged much of America, cover-upped corruption, and tried to erase America’s past, but they haven’t won yet. Your own samizdat will immerge soon,”

*Vladimir Bukovsky, a Russian-born British human rights activist and writer. From the late 1950s to the mid-1970s, he was a prominent figure in the Soviet dissident movement, well known at home and abroad. (Wikipedia)

I love mythology. In a recent read I came across the trolls. This made my mind jump to a modern day troll issue.

TROLLS IN THE LAND OF MAGA

Under the Facebook Bridge,
Lived a clan of trolls.
Ugly and stupid and bug-eyed,
They had no self-control.

Anyone who tried to cross
Their bridge into MAGA land,
Had to endure many insults,
And pay taxes into their hands.

As people crossed the bridge,
Travelers would often speak
About Deep State crooks & election fraud,
This angered the troll-like geeks!

All it took was one wrong word,
To cause them to attack,
They wanted to frustrate and frighten,
So you’d never want to come back.

Church bells made them crazy,
Religion was not their thing,
“I’m Proud to be an American”
Was a song they’d never sing.

Once, travelers played the Trump Card,
It scared the trolls to death!
They fled and hid in the Swamp,
And tried to catch their breath.

But to this day Trolls continue
To attack, provoke and annoy,
Even eating MAGA Hobbits,
Not caring who they destroy.

I Feel Like I Was Living in Russia Again . . .

  I recently conducted an interview with, Nadia, a Russian immigrant. Tall and attractive, she’s been a LEGAL citizen now for a few years. She was born and raised in Minsk, was a Lenin Eagle and later a Pioneer. She now resides in New Orleans. Until the COVID shutdown, she had been making a living with a floral business and decorating for weddings and special events.

Our conversation led to describing her life in this American COVID shutdown. We talked about Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, whom she admired. When I told her that I had everything Solzhenitsyn had written, she said, “You’re the first American I’ve talked to who knew anything about him, and the first who really understands what life is like in a communist country.”

“How would you describe your life now?” I asked.

“I feel like I’m living in Russia again,” she said. “I haven’t worked for months. Since I’m self-employed, the only money I’ve been able to receive is a little bit of relief money. In Russia, the government will provide a stipend, but not enough to live on. The government controlled where you could live, where you could go, what you could buy—if you had any money—and controlled what you could say. The government determined what was acceptable to say.  You had to be very careful with what you said, Neighbors would turn you in for making your own bread or making your own vodka, so that had to be done in secret. If you wanted to purchase something, anything, you had to count on waiting for hours in very long lines. Many things were not available at all, not at any price.”

She paused and looked directly at me. “That is my life now. I’m living in a ___ hole. Sometimes I think I might as well be back in the Russian ____ hole. I see how Americans are headed toward the same kind of life—with a government-controlled media, where you have the rich elite who control everything and who have everything and anything they want. Then there’s everyone else, the rest of the population that the leaders don’t care about.  The rich leaders are hypocrites, who feel they don’t have to obey the same restrictions and rules as a normal citizen.”

She paused as if remembering the little girl she once had been standing in the breadline for hours. She went on to describe the total censorship, the ruined lives of those who spoke out, how they used mob violence to deter protests or stepping out of Party lines, and the common fraud and power struggles in elections.

The similarities between her life experiences and what she is experiencing now were striking and obvious.  She concluded our interview by saying, “Most Americans don’t know what it’s like to live in constant fear of being arrested, spied on, fined, or for a family of four to live in one very small room.

“But someday they will . . . .”

SOLZHENITSYN’S GHOST: AMERICAN SAMIZDAT, #1

     Under the Witch’s Mark is an excellent example of coming of age during the Age of Aquarius.

In the late 1960’s, millions of Flower Children rebelled against their conventional, post World War II upbringing by experimentation with psychedelic drugs, “free” love and out of the norm costumes and music. They (we) embraced any behavior that would shock society.

By the early 1970’s the movement had become wide spread with some young people learning that freedom from convention led down roads from which there was no return.

Rickey Pitman simply and distinctly gives the reader a glimpse of how evil walks among us and how quickly innocence can turn into evil when the weak and susceptible.

Those who believe the devil is a myth will rethink their convictions after reading Under the Witch’s Mark.

The first novel I read in 2021 was Innocence Lost: The Legend of Henrietta Clay by Rita Ownby Holcomb. (Fountain Springs Publishing).  The novel is well constructed with 44 dated chapters starting with August of 1860 and ending Christmas Eve, 1864. Innocence Lost is the first in a series that spans from 1860-1920.

This construct gives the story the feel of a memoir, telling the story of fifteen-year-old Henrietta Clay from Hogeye, Arkansas. The young, naive girl marries a man who promises her a beautiful life, but instead uses her and drags her into the seedy world of war-torn St. Louis. Fate rescues her from her difficult circumstances and leaves her with the gift of a child and an inherited brothel.  Henrietta Clay is actually the great-great-grandmother of the author.

The author skilly constructs her plot with the kind of chapters I like to read: short enough to read in one sitting with very descriptive writing that moves from one conflict to another. The storyline has plenty of conflicts and twists and at times has the feel of a romance novel, but as mentioned before, it feels more like a memoir, and one that is full of historical details indicating the extensive research the author must have done,  Even though I’ve long been a student of the Civil War, some of these facts are surprising, such as introducing Lissie Keckley, a free slave who became the personal dressmaker of Mary Todd Lincoln. As the War Between the States is always in the background, the protagonist is an observer of the St. Louis civilians as well as the Federal and Confederate officers and soldiers whose destinies and actions affected the city.  In a way, one could say that this is very much a story of St. Louis.

Rita Holcomb is a member of the Authors Roundtable Society and a member of the Texas Authors Association. You can read more about her and her fine books HERE:

Line of Blood: Uncovering a Secret Legacy of Mobsters, Money, and Murder by Jana Marcus

A Short Review by Rickey Pittman

I discovered the writing of Jana Marcus in my review of her earlier book, In the Shadow of the Vampire, which you can read on this blog. That review led me to read and review this work. But first, a word about Jana Marcus. Marcus is the author of two photodocumentary books, “In The Shadow Of The Vampire: Reflections from the World of Anne Rice” and “Transfigurations,” which received the Gold Award for Best LGBT Non-Fiction Book of 2012 by the Independent Book Awards of New York. She is a multi-award-winning photographer based in Santa Cruz County. You can discover much more about her and many illustrations of her exceptional photography at her website.

I am happy to have discovered her, a careful writer who has a fantastic inner theatre, an imagination no doubt fueled by her expert photographer’s eye. The subtitle of the writing gives the reader a strong hint of what is found in this murder-mystery-memoir–there is much here about mobsters, money, and murder. This is a tale of a Brooklyn family with their histories, their family trees, their secrets, and their faults and strengths. There is a section of family photos that bring places, family members, and graves into focus and helps the visualization of the narrative.  Marcus’s years of obsessive and careful research led her on her tedious quest for answers for unsolved murders. She found answers to many of her questions, but her discoveries were often painful, heartbreaking, and disappointing. I encourage you to read this fine book to discover for yourself what she found. She obviously knows how to create a documentary.

As a reader, I most enjoyed learning from this read.  Marcus used a psychic in her search and I learned much about how a psychic works in their communication with the past and with the dead. There certainly seemed to be some very haunted places connected to the murders. Marcus and her friends help her expose the massive corruption that had taken place in the DA’s office and the Brooklyn police in the 30s and 40s. The reader meets the Italian and Jewish mob leaders who, along with the corrupt law enforcement agencies, controlled the gangsters, the businesses, as well as the region’s prostitution, gambling, and murder for hire. Her narrative made me realize better than any crime movie of that period how corrupt things can become. Marcus says, “What was extremely evident to me was just how rampant corruption ran within the ranks of the police department and the higher authorities in the 1930s and 1940s” (p.111).

Here are some interesting discoveries I made:

Murder Incorporated. – an organized crime group in the 1930s and 40s that enforces the crime groups in the greater New York City area. Marcus covers their history from their formation to their end.

I learned much about Jewish gangsters. They were much more formidable a crime force than I had realized before this reading. Marcus also introduced me to many Jewish/Yiddish words and customs.

Marcus spent half her life in her search for answers. To conclude, I think this is the most memorable quote in the book: “I’ve learned the dead do talk…if you listen.”

You can order Marcus’ book HERE: