For many reasons, Civil Rights among them, 1963 was a
“landmark.” Since taking the oath of office, Jack Kennedy
had walked a fine line between politics and social justice.
He and Bobby were “villains in the eyes of… white bigots”
for their support for African Americans and Martin Luther
King, Jr., in particular, though Jack really only “tiptoed
around the prospect of equal rights for Negroes.” Still, in
Dyson’s telling, Bobby almost seemed smug in what he
thought he knew about 1963’s simmering atmosphere when he
met with James Baldwin, Harry Belafonte, Lena Horne,
playwright Lorraine Hansberry, and activist Jerome Smith.
He wanted acknowledgment and gratitude for what was being
done on behalf of Black Americans. Instead, the “Negroes”
gave Kennedy a verbal trouncing.
Smith said Kennedy “’… don’t have no idea what trouble is…”
Hansberry threatened to give guns to people on the street
(“poetic license,” Dyson muses). Baldwin fanned the flames,
Smith dismissed the meeting as “cocktail-party patter,” and
Kennedy fumed before Hansberry dropped a final bombshell and
Kennedy’s guests stalked out.
In the days after this seminal meeting, Kennedy had chance
to ruminate. He’d heard “unvarnished truths in ways white
ears… were unaccustomed to.” It changed his life and altered
his political career with a lesson that still resonates,
especially for liberals and those who are trying this year
to capture Congressional seats.
“It’s a lesson we must learn today,” says Dyson, “if we are
to overcome our differences and embrace a future as bright
as our dreams allow.”
What Truth Sounds Like
is both the first book you should want this summer – and the
last.
Absolutely no one would ever mistake this for a beach read;
it’s too serious and thought-provoking for vacation
frivolity and it’s absolutely not skimmable like a
novel.
Conversely, considering what’s going on in the nation and in
the world, this may be the most important book of the
season. Author Michael Eric Dyson shows how a meeting held
so long ago actually offers a sort of blueprint for anyone
concerned about current issues of race. That includes
“artists” and entertainers who seem to oppose what Baldwin
would’ve advocated, and activists who need to know their
history.
Give yourself plenty of time with this book. Pick it up, put
it down, read anew, and it may help you to change minds. For
sure, What Truth Sounds Like holds ideas you’ll want
to talk about. |