Excerpt
Every
Saturday night Harrold gave Ebony and Devon a shiny Silver fifty-cent
piece for allowance. Today was a little different. Today
he gave them a choice. He put a paper one-dollar bill next to a
shiny fifty-cent piece and asked us which one we wanted. Devon
picked the dollar. I picked the fifty-cent piece because that
was all I knew. Harold smiled at Ebony and told her how smart
she was for her choice. Then he explained to Devon that the
paper dollar really has no value. “You used to be able to
trade this paper dollar for a dollar's worth of gold. Now, you
can’t. It’s really just a piece of paper. It has no
monetary value. It’s more like credit. So it is wise to
keep the silver. It is more valuable.”
Devon
smiled, shook his head up and down as he said “Yes Sir” and took
the silver piece.
Uncle
Ray was daddy’s younger brother. He was the first one in the
family to attend college, but he dropped out. Said he could
make more money at home than being in some college. Both
daddy’s parents had passed away, so it was only Daddy and Uncle
Ray. But they had aunts uncles and cousins. Lots of
them.
Uncle
Ray was always dressed sharp. He always wore a jacket and tie,
but daddy said he didn’t work in a pie factory. My brother
loved going to Uncle Ray’s apartment in Linwood Gardens. He
would try on Uncle Ray’s clothes and shoes and talk about how he
was gonna be just like Uncle Ray when he grew up. Daddy would
just shake his head
When
Uncle Ray babysat us he always came to our house. Mommy would
have us bathed and in our pajamas so when Uncle Ray got there all he
had to do was entertain us. And that’s exactly what he did.
He
would start by popping us a big bowl of popcorn. Then we would
listen to records, dance and sometimes he would bring his bongos and
let us play them. My favorite was when he did the “hand bone”
hand slapping song. When mommy and daddy did it, they only used
one hand but when Uncle Ray did it he used both hands.
Aunt
Jacke and Uncle Frank came over to join my parents that night.
They were going out to celebrate Uncle Fran’s birthday so everyone
was in a festive mood. The Date was August 28m exactly 6 years
after the Columbia Race Riot. They were drinking and laughing
and having a good time when Uncle Ray arrived.
“Man,
have you heard about the police raid of the Black Panther
Headquarters today?:
“Ray,
don’t nobody wanna hear that shit tonight man. I’m
celebrating my birthday with my baby.”
Aw
man, you guys are sellouts. I forgot who I was talking to.
Where is my nephew and niece?”
“Here
I am Uncle Ray. Who are the Black Panthers?” Devan asked.
“Hey
Little Man!” Uncle Ray said as he picked Devon up and swung him
around.
“The
Black Panthers is a black organization started by two brothers who
went to college. Bobby Seals and Huey P. Newton are two of the
baddest brothers on the face of the earth! They started the
Black Panthers in California and now they have chapters all over;
three chapters here in Philadelphia!
White
people don’t like them because they are smart, black and proud.
They give hope to communities and institute programs that improve our
lifestyles….”
Uncle
Ray stopped when Willie came downstairs. She was decked out in
a gold dress the had a drop cowl in back and fit her like a glove.
Her shoes were multi-colored and included splashes of gold to
highlight her dress. Her signature afro hairstyle was perfect
as usual and she was stunning.
“Whew
Wee. Look at Willie!” Uncle Ray shouted. He
seemed a little different tonight. A bit overly excited and
rambling about things.
“Well
it’s about time. You look, beautiful baby.” Harold said.
“Now, let’s get this party started!” And they were off.
Life
was good for Harold and Willie. Willie had her job working for
the city and Harold was a full-time exterminator. They had a
house, a car, two kids and a dog. They were living the American
Dream.
This
Saturday night started out just like any other and I went to bed
happy and full. But on this night I was awakened by all this
screaming and hollering. I sat up in my bed startled out of my
sleep as I listened to daddy and Uncle Ray screaming at each other.
Then I heard glass breaking. Uncle Ray had jumped from the top
kitchen step straight to the basement and began breaking the glass
lamps and tables that furnished the basement. Then I heard
sirens and mommy saying “he’s down the basement.”
At
that point I jumped up, closed my door and covered my head with my
pillow. But that didn’t drown out the screams that seemed to
come from my Uncle Ray’s soul. I jumped up out of bed and
started to go to my brother’s room, but since his door was closed
as usual, I ran into my parent's room because I could hear them
taking Unc out the door. I saw him on a stretcher. It
looked like they tied him down. But there were two stretchers.
JoAnn was on the other. I didn’t even know she was here.
Daddy jumped in the ambulance with Uncle Ray and the two ambulances
took off. Mommy stood out on the steps staring into space for a
while. I went back to my room and pretended to be asleep.
And soon, I was.
I
don’t know exactly what happened that night. Daddy said
somebody put something in Uncle Ray’s drink that made him go
crazy. Their lives had forever been changed that night and the
American Dream was about to become a nightmare.
MENTAL
ILLNESS
Saturdays
had forever changed. Ebony would often be awakened by Harry and
Willie’s arguments in the wee hours in the morning. After the
arguing died down she would fall back to sleep only to be awakened by
Willie to get up and get dressed. Whether there was an argument or
not, Saturday mornings were spent shopping. If they weren’t
food shopping, they were shopping for material to take to Miss Janice
so she could make Willie’s outfits, while Harry and Devon stayed in
bed. We always made it home in time to watch Soul Train the
soul TRAIN...THE HIPPEST TRIP IN AMERICA WITH DON CORNELIUS AND THE
SOUL TRAIN GANG!. That was everyone’s favorite show!
In
the afternoons, the family would get together and take a long ride up
to Byberry Road in the far Northeast section of Philly to visit Uncle
Ray at a place they called The State Hospital.
There
were several buildings on the well-manicured grounds of this
facility. To look at it from the outside you would think it was
a good place for people to get help. Once inside, it was a very scary
place for anybody, let along an 8-year-old little girl.
There
were people wandering around and they all had on hospital gowns that
were opened in the back, some exposing bare bottoms of the patients.
They just walked back and forth up and down the hallways with no
destination and they didn’t seem to notice anyone or anything
around them. And the place smelled awful. Ebony hated going
there.
Harry
hated this place and was doing everything in his power to get Ray out
of here. He didn’t like that they kept Uncle Ray “doped up”
on several medications including Haldol and Thorazine. Uncle
Ray didn’t talk. He just looked kinda spaced out. I
don’t even know if he recognized us, but one thing for sure, we
were there every Saturday afternoon.
Uncle
Ray had been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. They tried many
different combinations of medication to help him. At first,
they all made him zombie-like, but after about a year, they seemed to
have the right combination of medications and Uncle Ray was finally
allowed to come out of that awful place. But Willie did not
want him to stay with them. She was afraid of another episode
and afraid for her children. Harry was mad, and they argued
about it but in the end, Uncle Ray went to stay with Harry’s cousin
Frank. It was just him and Aunt Jackie, they didn’t have any
children and Aunt Jackie didn’t work so everyone agreed that was
the best place for Uncle Ray. They lived up in the Northeast in
a nice 3 bedroom house with a porch and backyard and had plenty of
room for Uncle Ray.
We
still went to visit him every Saturday, but of course, he was a
totally different person. He was not the stylishly dressed man
he once was. He now wore all black attire, the official Black
Panther uniform. He talked a lot more now, often rambling about
Black Panther news. Today, as many Saturdays to follow, he
recalled the day the police raided the Black Panther Headquarters;
the same day his world got flipped upside down. Uncle Ray was
sitting on the porch, talking to himself when we arrived.
“In
1966 Bobby Seals and Huey P. Newton started the Black Panther for
Self Defense in Oakland California, because they were sick and tired
of the pigs beating us upside our heads for no reason. After
the assasination of Malcolm X, they followed his motto. They
said we have the right to defend ourselves They started
patrolling and protecting their own neighborhoods from Police
Brutality. Soon after they began identifying problems and
instituting solutions One basic problem was that children were
not being properly nutritioned so they started feeding children
breakfast. In 1969 the Philadelphia Chapter started
under the leadership of Reggis Shell. Following the programs
and initiatives of the original chapter, The Philadelphia Black
Panther Party fed the hungry, had sit-ins, and became such a positive
force in the city that they were a threat to the oppressors.:
“Hey
Ray. What’s up man? I bought your favorite bean pie.”
Uncle
Ray looked up, took the pie, looked at Devon and continued to ramble.
Harry and Ebony sat on the porch with Devon and listened to Ray talk.
So,
one night me and Nate were down Columbia Avenue right, and we say
those pigs bust down the door to the Panthers Headquarters. We
were on our way there to join up. We watched from across the
street as those pigs held guns to those brother’s heads and made
the strip down to bare nakedness. Yeah me and Nate walked away
with tears in our eyes.”
Then
he was quiet for a while. We all were. Uncle Ray opened his pie
and ate it as we all sat in silence, each in our own thoughts.
Aunt
Jackie was famous for her fried chicken, collard greens and potato
salad. Almost every Saturday she would prepare her famous
dishes and include a special dessert. Today is was my favorite;
banana pudding. We all sat at the dining room table as Uncle
Frank said the blessing.
Harold
did not have an appetite. “I just gotta find out who slipped
that micky in Ray’s drink man! Imma kill that mother.” he
said as he poured himself another glass of whiskey. He seemed
to drink whiskey more than ever now.
“Man,
the doctor told us that nobody slipped him anything, Harold.
“That’s
right Harold. The doctor said this...schizophrenia is something
that has been developing over time. A traumatic experience can
spark it to new heights. They believe that Ray experienced trauma
that caused his spike to his episode.” Aunt Jackie chimed in.
“Yeah.
All he talks about now is that night the Panthers Headquarters was
raided. That is the trauma that caused schizophrenia to spike
Harold. Nobody slipped him anything man.”
“Man,
I just...just…” and Harold broke down in tears. Willie,
Aunt Jackie and Uncle Frank wrapped their arms around him and Devon
and I followed suit.
