Still Invisible?. Elvin J. Dowling

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      I am the Beholder

      What's in a Name?

      It has often been said that justice, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Well, darling, that's me ...

       I am Lady Justice.

      I was born into the world the brainchild of Augustus, the first emperor of Rome, who wanted to present himself as the paragon of impartiality and, in doing so, created me. I am the personification of fair play for those seeking truth and a redress of their grievances. From the moment I was crowned as the Roman goddess Justitia (Lady Justice, if you will), until this very day, the world has taken note of the power I wield in temples of jurisprudence everywhere. In fact, the very mention of my name demands immediate respect and invokes a modicum of fear from even the strongest of individuals. You may not like me, but you will respect me. Of this, I have no doubt.

      Having a name is the first and most important gift that each of us are given at birth, one that will generally follow us for the rest of our lives. As babies, we immediately identify with, and respond to, the sound of our names when uttered by the ones we love and those who love us. As children, we begin to build our names, our brand if you will, and start to understand that our reputations truly proceed us. As adults, we hope to cultivate a name that is integral to the legacy we will leave long after we are gone. But having no name at all, is both wounding to the spirit and debilitating to one's own sense of self, rendering that individual worthless to those that choose to see them, and all but invisible to everyone else. Just as it was intended.

      For nearly one hundred years, from the collapse of slavery in the South in 1865, until the 1960's, countless Black men traded their enslavement for employment as a Pullman Porter on America's railroads. Responsible for serving as ushers for passengers along the rail lines, these men were universally referred to as "George" (in honor of the owner of the company, George Pullman), thus stripping them of their sense of self and putting them in the same conundrum that Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man" experienced as an individual without his own identity. But never fear... I am here. The world may not know your names, Black men, and may refuse to see you... but I have never taken my eyes off of you.

      I am Lady Justice.

      The stories I will share with you in this book, hearken back to the fictional experiences of a Black man I will present to some and reintroduce to others; one without a name or an individual identity who, in many ways, did not exist, but is as real as you and I. As your narrator on this, your path to compassion and understanding, I will also introduce you to other Black men, from various walks of life who, like the "Invisible Man", have spent their lives seeking to be seen for their individual contributions, but unlike the "Invisible Man", they are real, very real, and so are their individual, yet collective, experiences. As the reader, you should note that it is where their personal experiences intersect, regardless of their income or education levels, that the truth of America is exposed. As the guardian of that truth, you should also be mindful of the fact that I have an ugly underbelly that would shock your conscience, were I to lift my gown. In theory, I’m blind. In reality, I see everything. Don't let the tipped scales fool you.

       I am Lady Justice.

      I am the muse that lovers seek, but only some will ever find. I’m the cream in your cup of Starbucks coffee—paying customers only, please! Everyone wants me, but I tend to play hard to get. A lady must have standards, right? And if you want my undivided attention, please know it's going to cost you, because I am no cheap thrill. In his poem, "Let America Be America Again," Langston Hughes, an African American poet who emerged during the height СКАЧАТЬ