"LOWELLisms" - straight from the Soul & Spirit of Lowell D. Thompson - Recovering Ad Man & 'Race Man'

WHAT FOLLOWS IS A FACEBOOK POSTING OF JUNE 1, 2012 - 1:40 PM CST

U know, ART, U brought up a very good point that I just crossed my mind now as I read your Posting.  I'll have to run it past my friend/associate, Lowell Thompson (aka:  RACE MAN) who wrote the Book:  African Americans in Chicago, an Arcadia Publications Image Series Text now in its 3^RD Printing and WHITEFOLKS: Seeing America Through Black Eyes back in the 1990s and that is:

Speaking from a White Jewish Gal’s Perspective, that is:  We all remember where we were when John F. Kennedy was assassinated and we will always remember where we were when the Towers fell (Sept. 11, 2001), but it never ever dawned on me to remember where I was when Martin Luther King died.  This was at 6:01 PM on Thursday, April 4, 1968, as he stood on the balcony of his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

Except I was a Sophomore living downstate in a small farming town so I was doing all high-schooly things.  Plus, the town I lived in (and was subsequently born & raised in) we only had 1 Black Person, Mrs. Campbell who was much older & I don’t recollect if she even was married.  She somehow blended in. I don’t recall much more about it.  There weren’t any Black Kids in our school system.  I may have been one of the first from my class to see and know ‘Colored Folk’ because my Mom was born & raised in the City (Chicago) and my Family & I drove in every weekend to visit with her Folks since August of 1952.

Monumental & pivotal Events as these affect every Race…it just struck me that I can’t say that:  “I was eating supper with my brother, sister and parents when  he News’ broke about Rev. King which was probably where I was, perhaps so.

Well, there is so more to be said about this Issue & I’m sure Lowell will be the one who sez it.  He’s not here on Facebook, but he does write for the Huffington Post which is also on FB.  If anything, that post makes U realize that ‘the average yet conscientious person’ should be much more cognizant of your surroundings and the events that carve out our Days! 

Cheers, ASK

Screenwriter – Author – Eventologist – Promoter

Studio 1437

Chicago – IL USA

PS:  2 bits/bytes of interesting Fact about Mr. Thompson:

http://www.amazon.com/African-Americans-Chicago-Images-America/dp/0738588539

Born on Chicago’s South Side, Lowell Thompson is an artist/writer and “creative catalyst.” In 1968, three months after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he was one of the first African Americans hired in the creative department of any leading American advertising agency.