Friday, December 7, 2018

The Last Days of the Black Elks Hall in Bronzeville..




A Once Sacred Place in a Once Sacred Space ..
is now reduced 
2 a pile of rubble …

A rubble of red bricks
now sit on the spot 
at the end of my block

A pile of red bricks 
that sit unknown 
against the night  sky
as I
pull the car up to see  
the crime .. up close...
A murder in the night…
There’s no red tape around the corpse.. but 
It still feels like a death in the darkness... 
where someone took away my heart and my soul...

Yes … my  Big little “Red Schoolhouse’..
The Elks Hall…
Where they used to  hold “Elks Affairs”
With B.B. King as a headliner
 Where they dressed in their best.. 
With  beautiful fur collars and 2 inch heels.
And Dobb hats
The end of an era..
of important Black Elks who started  up in  Bronzeville
back in the day.

I remember the cars that lined the block and  
how the lots were full when there was an “Elks Affair..

I remember when guitarist, George Freeman, brother of Von Freeman..
and Byron Barbour  and Terry Norman ... played gigs there.

I remember after many years,… when the Elks  had gone.. 
and the Temple of the African Community  came...
With  Dr Jake Carruthers as their  leader,
we looked forward to the works of the Kemetic Institue
but .. alas.. he passed away 
and the dreams seemed to leave with him..
because the building was never brought to the original vision.

I  came to say  goodbye 
To a piece of my light…

A part of my family history
Growing up on the block..since 1966
Growing up...
knowing 
that 
I could go get some 
Jays potato chips... and a pop..
and watch the elders talk ... 
about important  'things' that elders talk about..
and feel safe...
 knowing that the BIG RED BUILDING  stood
at the  end of the street
 towering  like a big red Fortress 
protecting 'Short Vernon from the  Hawk,
 the folks...
and that it had a history ...

but now it's

Reduced to nothingness... 
against the night sky
It’ s cold… and I stare and stare
before taking a picture

I am alone..
Feeling some kind of way…
 like a lone warrior who cared…
 like a Bronzevillian Shogun
who guarded ... the Stable... 
who watched  over...
and groomed and  
maintained the grounds.

I know I tried..  
to imagine  
a school for the Arts
The children inside ..
a place of learning
filled with music  again..
with community again..
learning about the beauty, the history that we
have in Bronzeville
and interfacing that history with  the world..
The world who always came to visit 43rd St

They  would  stop  at my door 
to learn about the Checkerboard Blues club...
And they would always ask 
"What y'all going to do with that Big Red Building 
at the end of the block?
And I would  always say..
"Some of  us would love to see it become a  
Historical  place of learning.."
A place where the Arts & Technology can flourish...
Where literacy can rise..

But what really happens 2 a dream when it gets no support
Too little.. too late…
No support from those..
who have cultural roots here
 but No imagination..
No love.. 
No Interest..
For a Stable built in the 1890’s
surrounded by cobblestones...

With a rich history..

I’m  having  a flashback
A FLASH BLACK  
2  a whole 'nother time..
In Bronzeville 
On 'short Vernon
 Which is the nickname 
for this block on 43rd St..
because it is only one block long...
on Muddy Waters Drive
With its own rich history..

A flashback to when they tore the Checkerboard down..
As I watched  from the window…
It was a long time coming…
And it hurt just as much..

By Aki Antonia c2018 12418