Hard to believe three novels later all the years I dreamt of writing books that it really happened. When I think of all the hard work that went into getting them written and published, it certainly becomes real!
Now that 'Book of Dragon's Teeth' is a few days away from release, there's no 'breather' because I have other writing projects in the pipeline and working on a tv show and developing one as well. I'm also seriously thinking about going to get my Ph.D. in Digital Media Studies (what else?) So that's going to be a process on its own!
In the meantime, those of you who haven't read the two previous books from the TFLR Series you can find them at:
Book Two: TFLR: THE GRAY MAN
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| Image Source: Women in Planetary Science |
Dr. Alexander is the Project Scientist for the U.S. portion of the international Rosetta mission. She has also been the Cassini Project Staff Scientist and as the final project manager of the Galileo mission, overseeing its fiery crash into Jupiter. Her scientific interests include gaskinetic theory, theory of gaseous escape from planetary and cometary regoliths, theory of surface bound exospheres, magnetospheric plasma theory (terrestrial and planetary), exobiology, interdiciplinary science, and oxidation / reduction potential of planetary and cometary regoliths.
Her most recent publications include:
- C. Alexander, A. Chmielewski, S. Gulkis, P. Weissman, D. Holmes, J. Burch, R. Goldstein, P. Mokashi, S.A. Stern, J. Parker, S. Fuselier, M. Kueppers, A. Accommazzo, “The U.S. Rosetta Project at its second Science Target: Asteroid (21) Lutetia,” IEEE Conference Proceedings, in press.
- C. Alexander, D. Sweetnam, S. Gulkis, P. Weissman, D. Holmes, J. Burch, R. Goldstein, P. Mokashi, J. Parker, S. Fuselier, L. McFadden, “The U.S. Rosetta Project at its first Science Target: Asteroid (2867) Steins,” IEEE Conference Proceedings, 2010.
- C. Alexander, R. Carlson, G. Consolmagno, D. Morrison, 400 Years of Discovery at Europa, Europa, Pappalardo, McKinnon, Khurana eds., University of Arizona Press, 2009.
2014, Rosetta will enter orbit around comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenkoand land a probe on it, two firsts.
Rosetta’s goal is to learn the primordial story a comet tells as it gloriously falls to pieces.
Comets are primitive leftovers from our solar system's 'construction' about 4.5 billion years ago. Because they spend much of their time in the deep freeze of the outer solar system, comets are well preserved—a gold mine for astronomers who want to know what conditions were like back “in the beginning.”
NASA Science News: Mission to Land on a Comet
European Space Agency: Rosetta
Opportunity's 10-year anniversary: still working for us. 
Amazing illustration by Tina KrugerThere have been some great discussion on this topic since Childrens book council came out with some startling stats on the subject. Like this article by Lee and Low Books and this short on NPR. Weigh on yall. There are the obvious points, but who is leading the charge in changing this?
-Robert Trujillo
At 2:05 of the trailer, you'll see the words: "behind the world's greatest mind."
Granted, I'm looking forward to this documentary as any geeked physics major would be. I do take some pause to the trailer coining Professor Hawking the title of "greatest mind." He is a great mind, to be sure. The whole "G.O.A.T." thing is a bit of hyperbole to me.
He's overcome quite a lot of obstacles in his harried life, one of which is the shear act of living beyond the original expectations of his lifespan shortened by his disability.
He shows the famous British resolve: "stiff upper lip" determination. I did read "A Brief History of Time" and enjoyed it. I am familiar with the following I saw on Wikipedia:
"Among his significant scientific works have been a collaboration with Roger Penrose on gravitational singularities theorems in the framework of general relativity, and the theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation, often called Hawking radiation. Hawking was the first to set forth a cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. He is a vocal supporter of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.
"He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. Hawking was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge between 1979 and 2009."
He had a great science fiction series and several other shows on the Science Channel I enjoyed. Dr. Hawking has lost some scientific wagers though: with Kip Thorne; a "black hole war" with Leonard Susskind and Gerard t'Hooft; most recently with Peter Higgs (of the Higgs Boson).
Professor Hawking is a remarkable man, but still a man, therefore fallible as we all are. To put him on a pedestal does him a disservice, and makes the attainment of a degree in physics or STEM fields the area that is "off limits"; "not normal"; "beyond human capability." I assure you it is not, and as a species, we should get out of boxing ourselves into the "us-versus-them": normals and nerds. Hence my objection to the trailer is in trying to get you to look at it...many may sadly look away.
This is a strange, dichotomous post after Independence Day. I sincerely hope you enjoyed BBQ in moderation and fireworks safely.
I'll still enjoy the documentary, as I hope you do too, mentally filtering hyperbole.
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| Science Universe blog |
Einstein is lauded for Special and General Relativity, but he stood on the shoulders of giants before him: Sir Isaac Newton, James Clerk Maxwell, Albert Abraham Michelson and Edward Williams Morley; Minkowski, Joseph Larmor, Hendrick Antoon Lorentz and Jules Henri Poincaré.
1898
Jules Henri Poincaré said that "... we have no direct intuition about the equality of two time intervals."
1904
Poincaré came very close to special relativity: "... as demanded by the relativity principle the observer cannot know whether he is at rest or in absolute motion."
1905
On June 5, Poincaré finished an article in which he stated that there seems to be a general law of Nature, that it is impossible to demonstrate absolute motion. On June 30, Einstein finished his famous article On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, where he formulated the two postulates of special relativity. Furthermore, in September, Einstein published the short article Does the Inertia of a Body Depend upon Its Energy-Content? In which he derived the formula E0=mc2.
1905 being Einstein's annus mirabilis (Latin: Year of Wonders), which contributed to his considerable celebrity and our understanding of the universe.
Forgive the history lesson. In other areas of my life, I run into what I like to term "walls of willed ignorance," especially when I'm cornered in a social setting as "the science guy" on a question I'm sincerely not thinking about at the particular moment, or at least can't recall as quickly as "The Google": literally a Hail Mary out of "left field." (Clarification: the question was about quantum mechanics, but I decided to go here 1st - more next Sunday.) I do know when to call BS on persons that merely want to hear themselves pontificate and perform, versus inform. Thus, here is my info for the "walls" and their next spellbinding performance...
Nobel Prize: History of Special Relativity
Physics arXiv: Henri Poincaré and Relativity Theory, by A. A. Logunov
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| Organizational Relationship and Contact Analyzer - ORCA |
TECHNOLOGY REVIEW: In the last 10 years or so, researchers have revolutionised the way military analysts think about insurgency and the groups of people involved in it. Their key insight is that insurgency tends to run in families and in social networks that are held together by common beliefs.
So it makes sense to study the social networks that insurgents form. And indeed that’s exactly what various military analysts have begun to do, including those in the US Army. A few years ago, a group of West Point cadets and offices developed some software for gathering information about the links between the people who make and distribute improvised explosive devices.
Now the US Army is adapting this technology to help the police tackle gang violence. Damon Paulo and buddies at the US Military Academy at West Point say there are a number of similarities between gang members and insurgents and that similar tools ought to be equally effective in tackling both.
To that end, these guys have created a piece of software called the Organizational, Relationship, and Contact Analyzer or ORCA, which analyses the data from police arrests to create a social network of links between gang members.
Realizing this evolution in technology was inevitable, some of what else the article said disturbed me:
“Police officers working in the district have told us that gangs of Racial Group A are known for a more centralized organizational structure while gangs of Racial Group B have adopted a decentralized model,” say Paulo and co adding that the results of their analysis seem to clearly show this.
The team is currently working to introduce a software in a major metropolitan police department throughout the summer of 2013.
Read that as: New York City, and a "scientific reason" for the continuance of "stop and frisk" and profiling...
Physics arXiv:
How Military Counterinsurgency Software Is Being Adapted To Tackle Gang Violence in Mainland USA
Related link: StreetGangs.com
It's been a long time coming but amidst economic meltdowns, personal health issues, family tragedies and the everyday fight to stay the course working in the field I love most, the sequel to 'The Gray Man' is complete! Hard to believe I was halfway through writing the initial draft when family tragedy and my work in film & TV production took off at the same time back in 2006.
I finished the first draft in 2010 despite everything happening (most of it bad!) I finally got the edits done last year and have been fighting tooth and nail to get the cover art done. After a (very) short break, it's off to the publisher and let the 'promotional games' begin!
If all that weren't enough (obviously it isn't), I've got several projects ongoing including one which is a collaborative work with some authors well known (and loved) here at the BSFS! So while I'm getting the new season of 'The Priestess' ready to go this month, I'll be working on a new television extreme sports show and prepping to make another movie (way overdue for that!) In the meantime, ETP (estimated time of publishing) for 'Book of Dragon's Teeth' is late July or early August. For you fans of TFLR, you have my sincerest apologies for the long wait!
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| These three-dimensional tri-gate (FinFET) transistors are among the 3-D microchip structures that could be measured using through-focus scanning optical microscopy (TSOM) - Courtesy, Intel Corporation |
Contact: Chad Boutin
301-975-4261
A technique developed several years ago at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for improving optical microscopes now has been applied to monitoring the next generation of computer chip circuit components, potentially providing the semiconductor industry with a crucial tool for improving chips for the next decade or more.
The technique, called Through-Focus Scanning Optical Microscopy (TSOM), has now been shown able to detect tiny differences in the three-dimensional shapes of circuit components, which until very recently have been essentially two-dimensional objects. TSOM is sensitive to features that are as small as 10 nanometers (nm) across, perhaps smaller—addressing some important industry measurement challenges for the near future for manufacturing process control and helping maintain the viability of optical microscopy in electronics manufacturing.
NIST:
Microscopy Technique Could Help Computer Industry Develop 3-D Components
...and, physicists know how to do it! ~!!!~
TECHNOLOGY REVIEW: Teleportation is one of the more extraordinary phenomena in the quantum world. It allows a quantum object, such as a photon or electron, to travel from one location to another without passing through the space in between.
Teleportation is a standard procedure in any decent quantum mechanics laboratory. Physicists use it on a daily basis for quantum communication and quantum computation.
If that sounds exotic, you ain’t seen nothing yet; teleportation is about to get a whole lot weirder. That’s because until now, physicists have only been able to teleport single particles, one at a time. Today, Christine Muschik at the Mediterranean Technology Park in Barcelona and a bunch of mates say they’ve worked out how to teleport quantum stuff continuously.
That will allow them to manipulate one quantum particle while watching the effects occur in another particle elsewhere. That’s essentially quantum remote control.
Physics arXiv:
Quantum Teleportation of Dynamics and Effective Interations between Remote Systems
I paused to praise a man in the twilight of life. One brave enough to fight for his brethren, sacrifice 27 years of his life in a small dingy cell on an island that seems a lifetime away from everything one loves, and one who rose to exultation in 1994 to become president of the very people he was shackled for defending. AMANDLA!
Mandela, there are few like you past and present, that have ever walked the earth. A man who could stare down fear and hate, and survive! There are no words that could truly do you justice. As you prepare to leave this place, as you prepare to lock in the embrace of the heavens and continue your great work in the Angelic realms, just know that I, that we, are grateful that you walked amongst us. I would like to thank your children, your wives, and your close friends, for their hardships and sacrifices as well. I would like to thank them for lending you to us, for supporting you, and helping you to become the hero that you are.
Mandela, my eyes widened with wonder when you were released from prison on February 11, 1990. I sat on the chest in my grandmothers room and asked, "Who is this man? Why is everyone sooo happy?" I was seven years old. Henceforth, I read all of the articles and watched all of the news reports about the horrors of apartheid and your hero's journey. 20 years later, I had the opportunity to visit South Africa, to understand what Hell apartheid was, to see the ineffable poverty, and to bear witness to the journey of healing that South Africa still must travel. Again, to what you have given, there are truly no words.
Mandela, you are about to join Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Marcus Garvey, Medgar Evers, and so many other freedom fighters, my God, what good company you are in! I cannot wait to see what amazing work you do from the heavens! I'm just glad that I was able to see your amazing work in my lifetime. Thank you Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, you are appreciated. AMANDLA!
Honestly for myself, it was a challenge and the hardest thing "on the yard" I could think to study. It was an excuse as a young man to dress strangely, taking full advantage of the "socially inept Nerd" myth - walking around in an Army field jacket and a floppy yellow hat (I sadly still own) - and construct a wall between myself and others. I can see where that was off-putting and not helpful in getting more to at least have an appreciation for science. My mea culpa.
Physics requires a curiosity about how things work: I initially and admittedly, don't or won't know an answer (s), and through trial and a lot of error, I'll eventually figure out whatever is the problem. (That didn't work out too well for a few watches and clocks my parents owned.) Hence, buying me chemistry sets, a microscope, telescope and a toolkit was their way to channel my otherwise destructive impulses into something creative and less property-damaging!
It requires persistence, and frankly a kind of mental fortitude in that it's OK not to know the answer: it's having the courage to ask the question and pursue what might be initially fruitless paths. The lab notebook is your friend! I am in no way dismissing the fear people feel when they come up to a formidable task (or, at least one they feel is). If this blog does anything, I hope it encourages you to ask questions. Life is not pre-packaged with the contents known. We may never have all the answers, but we should not fear - nor be discouraged by bullies or authoritarian dogma - from asking questions.
I think for many, especially women and minorities, the "norms" of behavior are channeled early into other areas more acceptable to the social order and less threatening to the status quo: questions imply opposition.
As a whole, the American culture of phone apps, Google, downloads, microwave meals and popcorn, drive through restaurants and instant, 24-hour access to information has jaded our sense of adventure; the Romanticism of a really tough problem and the sheer JOY of solving it. Ironically, it was advances in applied physics that allow us to be so jaded. However, for those whom the adventure is everyday in the lab, pouring over notebooks and papers, staring at experiments, computer programs, circuit boards or stars, it's what keeps physicists, scientists and engineers up at night: their love affair with knowledge and discovery. It is how we all advance and survive as a species.
And, things are looking particularly good for physics students right now...
American Institute of Physics: US Physics Degrees Reach an All-Time High
American Physical Society: Why Study Physics?
Salish Kootenai College (SKC) is a four-year college located on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana. It is one of 32 fully-accredited US colleges and universities in which at least 51% of students are enrolled in federally recognized tribes.
The US Department of Education classifies these higher education institutions as TCUs (tribal colleges and universities). Most of the TCUs are chartered and controlled by tribal governments. Three are controlled by the US Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes govern SKC.
The first TCUs were established in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and initially these institutions focused on vocational education programs. Although vocational training remains an important part of their mission, TCUs also offer a growing number of two- and four-year science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees.
SKC awarded its first four-year STEM degree, in environmental science, in 1997. Since then, SKC has added baccalaureate programs in computer engineering, forestry, hydrology, information technology, life science, and secondary science education. The programs aim to provide additional career opportunities, and to promote long-term economic development of reservation communities. Today's STEM graduates will be tomorrow's entrepreneurs who provide economic opportunities for tribal members. Economically-strong tribal communities help preserve the cultures, languages, histories, and natural environment of their constituents.
In many ways, SKU's programs mirror the curricula one finds at non-TCUs. But they also incorporate traditional indigenous knowledge of the natural world and pedagogical approaches that reflect tribal cultural norms. They emphasize a teamwork approach, and they focus on strategies to improve quality of life and preserve natural environments. SKC STEM faculty members generally view traditional indigenous worldviews to be complementary to, rather than in conflict with, Western science.
Physics Today POV: Teaching science and engineering at a tribal college
From the start I face palmed my entire time seeing the trailer for once again while White audiences are given Superman and Thor, Black audiences are graced with yet another Black maid/servant movie. Now don't get me wrong the movie seems to have a solid cast and I would give anything to bet one of the Black cast members will be rewarded with an Oscar for being a maid or butler. While watching the movies trailer on YouTube I couldn't help but to look at the comments to see what others were saying about the film and one comment posted was that stories like these need to be told. While I agree to a certain extent I still beg the question how long will this story be told? Is this the only story Black Americans have to tell? Are moving stories from the Black mind only about being some "dignified" Black servant for White America?
The character of the Black servant be it historical or fictional has been a character that Hollywood has had no problem marketing. From Gone with the Wind in 1939 to The Help in 2011 to The Butler in 2013 the character of the black servant is slowly being reintroduced in modern society. All these films seem to tell the movie going audiences that no matter how bad Black servants where treated during these time periods Black maids and butlers didn't care and saw some type of dignity in what they are doing. On top of that you throw in a few "Good" White people to let both white and black audiences know that not all Whites were bad doing this time. To many times we get into the habit of believing these stories are true simply because there was a time when these things did happen and that somehow these films are good to the black mind to see what we know to be untrue to suddenly become true because "good" white people are behind it.
When it comes to historical movies about African-Americans the only movies that are successful are Black servants films but movies depicting African-Americans as heroes like in Red Tails or a messiah type character like in Malcolm X seem doomed to fail. Why? Because it is my opinion that Black people have been conditioned only to see themselves in a certain way. White audiences are given the images of themselves as Superman, Iron man, and Thor but Black audiences are given Precious and The Help and I believe that there is a reason for this. How many movies have been made on Abraham Lincoln? How many World War 2 films have been made? How many American western films are made? My point in saying this is these films are Historical films yet they all showing different sides of White American history. When it comes to Black American history or The World history of Black people we are only given one side of the story as if our history begins and ends in a state of servitude. Where are the epic films on the Nubian Pharaohs of Africa? We seem to have hundreds on the "great" accomplishments of the Greeks and Romans!
Films like The Butler may be true stories and may move hearts, but I believe those are stories that white audiences are comfortable seeing and Black audiences are conditioned to accept. Anything beyond that territory will ultimately begin to wake up the hearts and minds of black people.
By Chaz Ebert, wife of the Late Roger Ebert
Roger was writing reviews right until the very end. One day in the hospital I suggested that he take a break from work-related writing and write something creative that made him feel like he did when he was writing science fiction articles for fanzines when he was a boy. He began writing "The Thinking Molecules of Titan", a story about space exploration set in part at his beloved University of Illinois.
He never got a chance to finish it.
In the spirit of Roger's belief in crowd participation, we're having a contest to help complete the story.
Write your own ending and email it to us at contests@ebertdigital.com, with the subject header "TITAN ENDING", followed by your FULL NAME.
We'll gather the submissions and narrow it down to a select group of finalists, solicit your votes on which is the best, and announce the winner on the site. -- Chaz
The story so far:
When looking at this picture I was initially amazed, since I believed it to be something that it is not.
What it is, is a group of businessmen looking at the hull of a larger early 20th century cruise liner. Possibly the Titanic, but it could be anything from the Lusitania to some unknown ship that was sunk during the Battle of the Atlantic.
However, what it looked to me at first glance, was the undercarriage of a great Airship. These gentlemen, these Aeronauts, were proudly embarking on a circumnavigation of the globe in their floating dreadnought. Armed with wits and guns and inevitable communicable diseases, they would venture into the dense jungles of Amazonia . On their journeys, they would encounter the fabled lost cities described by defrocked Jesuit Francisco DeOriana, fight dangerous Air-Pirates and commit wanton acts of Derring-Do.
Of course, none of this happened, but it is an important lesson for any story teller or historian. Context matters. Context told me I was looking at the ribs of a giant inflatable balloon, not the walkways to a ship deck.
Context matters to story tellers because we can slant stories in a certain way. Make certain people the heroes or the villains, depending on the context, depending on the point of view.
In fiction, it used to be that POCs were typically the enemy, or if not worthy of fear, then contempt.
(See Armageddon 2419AD for a pretty racist view of both Asians and Africans)
POC and depictions of them have changed in the 80 years since 2419 published. Partly that is because of context. Consumers and their tastes have changed. While POC have not achieved parity in terms of "hero" status, actors such as Will Smith and Vin Diesel have proven that there is a commercial market for a POC as the heroic lead. In order to see greater representation in both interactive and static entertainment, authors have to continue to shift the context.
However, context shifting has to be more than preaching to some POC choir. It has to involve moving the context of what a hero does, what he or she looks like, and what is the nature of heroism. If you are fighting on someone else's ground, you will always be seen in their context.
It would like to say that we at MM are doing that, but the honest truth is that we haven't done it well enough.
By far, one of the most enjoyable novels of science fiction I've ever read, Ender's Game predicted things like the world wide web (a "net" in the novel), as well as laptop computers, and like the martial arts movie "Game of Death," it used levels to tell the story. That's not giving much away if you've read the series. Hollywood's apparently rediscovered science fiction, and yes, I'm amped for this one in November!
Amazon.com: Ender's Game Box Set
July, the Priestess Returns!
Many new questions rose at the end of Season Two as the now grown Little Fish set out from the protection of Valley Realm as he learned to control the power of the mystical Fishscale! Who is the mortal threat to the life of the Priestess the Valley Knight was warned of by the Dark God Qatula? Can the 'truth within lies' from Qatula be trusted? What unseen consequences from the Aesir Chief's breaking of the conditions for his return to the Valley set down by the 'Future Little Fish' will come to pass? What role will the new Goddess Okavanga protector of the Delta Boundary play in the coming events foreseen by the Priestess? And, what great power will come forth to challenge the Mighty Priestess and bring the shadow of destruction to the Valley? Much will be revealed and risked by all in Season Three of 'The Priestess!'
From the Space.com link:
The European Space Agency plans to launch a real-life mission to Europa in 2022 to explore it and several other Jupiter moons as part of the JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (nicknamed JUICE) expedition. NASA will provide a radar instrument for the JUICE spacecraft to peer beneath Europa's surface, but the mission will be completely robotic - no astronauts aboard.
This will be available apparently on I-tunes and video-on-demand June 27. It will hit theaters on August 2.
BTW: "Man of Steel" rocked! If you're just curious, the producers have released a "Kryptonian Glyph Generator" online. I am apparently of the "House of LOR": evolution, adventure, rhythm and dance.
Space.Com: First Trailer for Sci-Fi Thriller 'Europa Report' Unveiled
Man of Steel: GlyphCreator.ManofSteel.com
Since I reposted for mom...Happy Father's Day Pop. (Chief)
“New Light Beulah was organized in December of 1867 when some 565 African Americans opted to withdraw and worship on alternate Sundays from the white members of Beulah Baptist Church. Both congregations worshipped in the same sanctuary. The eleven-member White Beulah Baptist Church worshipped on the first and third Sundays. The Black congregation of New Light Beulah worshipped on the second and fourth Sundays of each month. Prior to the organization of New Light Beulah, one other Black congregation had been organized out of Beulah Baptist. That congregation was Shiloh Baptist Church when 40 Black members withdrew on May 14, 1866. Shiloh's pastor was Reverend William Weston Adams, a former slave and member of Beulah Baptist who had been ordained November 12, 1865. Reverend Adams along with two other former slaves were ordained by Beulah's Pastor James Lawrence Reynolds shortly after the Civil War.
“New Light Beulah Baptist Church extended the call to Reverend William Weston Adams to serve as her first pastor in 1867. Reverend Adams accepted the leadership of the church as a supply pastor initially. Within one year, Reverend Adams became the permanent pastor on New Light Beulah Baptist Church, about the same time that Reverend James Lawrence Reynolds resigned as the pastor of the small Beulah Baptist Church. The Beulah Baptist Church elected Reverend Thomas Mellichamp as pastor who had a cordial relationship with Reverend William W. Adams.
“The two congregations continued to share the same sanctuary for three years until the White congregation dispersed in 1870. The Black congregation continued to flourish. Spiritual leaders of the church included Preston & Eliza Moody Richardson, John & Ann Reese Dinkins, Pharoah & Racheal Ward Smith, Robert & Hagar Green Jones, Lewis & Suckey Smith Tucker, Paul & Matilda Hopkins Sims, Simon & Mariah Tucker Jenkins, Charles & Leah Reese Howell, Ned & Phyllis Brevard Middleton and James & Tansy Smith Taylor. These leaders guided the church through its transitional period. Beulah's Black congregation desiring to assert its independence, changed it's name to New Light Beulah Baptist in 1870.
“Shortly after the White members ceased using the sanctuary, questions about legal ownership of the church property began. The members of the New Light Beulah claimed ownership, as well as former white members of Beulah Baptist Church. The continuing dispute and the distance traveled by some members resulted in more than half of the membership securing letters of dismission in 1871 to organize the Zion Benevolent Baptist Church, Hopkins, S. C. Complicating the issue of ownership even more was a dispute between Anthony Morris (Black), a member of New Light Beulah and Jesse Reese (White), a former member of Beulah Baptist Church. December 2, 1871, apparently Brother Anthony Morris purchased a cow from Mr. Reese for $34.00 placing $21.00 down with a promise of possession with payment of the balance. Brother Morris later came prepared to pay the balance, but was told by Mr. Reese that the cow was sold and there would be no refund. Consequently, conflict arose between Reese and Morris, along with several members of the New Light Beulah Baptist Church who supported Morris. Subsequently, one of Mr. Reese's cows was maimed resulting in accusations of several New Light Beulah members who were eventually tried in General Sessions Court. Tense relationships developed in the Grovewood-Congaree community between Black and White citizens.
“Animosity within the community intensified when Mr. Jesse Reese's nephew Jesse Reese Adams moved himself and family into the sanctuary formerly shared by Beulah and New Light Beulah. This was the same sanctuary that was being used by the Black members of New Light Beulah Baptist at that time. The following Sunday when New Light Beulah members arrived for worship, they found Jesse Reese Adams armed and were forced to leave the premises. The land that the sanctuary sat on was originally purchased from the Reese family in 1832.
“New Light Beulah elected Nazareth's Reverend Isom William Simons as her third pastor. Just prior to Reverend Simons arrival, the church had elected Brother Frank Smith as church clerk to replace Andrew Richbourg. However, Brother Richbourg was reelected church clerk in 1885 for 1 year. Burrell J. Goodson was elected church clerk in 1886. Isom Harrison Goodwin was then elected clerk in 1887. Frank Smith served as clerk again in 1887. New Light Beulah's clerks Smith, Goodson and Goodwin were all at one time students of Benedict Institute.
“The church purchased two acres of land from the Kaminer brothers on December 26, 1886 for $25.00. Trustees signing the deed were Abram Weston, Jacob Gallman, Pompey Smith, Thomas Stocker, Warwick Howell, Hampton Jamison and Julius Goodwin.”
Julius Goodwin was my great-grandfather. He and his brothers would take the name of Goodwin after emancipation in 1865, giving it to his wife Epsy and his children, one of which Moses Pickett Goodwin: my grandfather.
Robert Harrison Goodwin was born June 19, 1925, on the same day celebrated in Texas, nationally and internationally as Juneteenth.
Robert lost his father Moses, a sharecropper and school teacher, at the age of three. From all descripts, a voracious reader, and that desire to learn transferred to his son. Raised by his “village” at the time, Robert would quit formal education in the 6th grade to work, bringing home money for his mother, Estelle. He would be drafted in the US Navy in a segregated squadron. He was a ship weapons expert, a cook and a Navy boxer: my first martial arts instructor. He took and passed a college entrance exam, despite his lack of formal education. He opted sadly, not to go, the challenge of the times and the need to make money for his mother, which he dutifully sent home from his meager enlisted check of $92.00.
On his departure after World War II from the Navy, he brought his clothing to a dry cleaning business in Winston-Salem, NC, where a young woman named Mildred would see him. Impressed with his looks and muscles (he was a boxer), she convinced her manager to give the person she’d eventually call “Boot” Goodwin a job. They married April 8, 1950 and Robert became an immediate father to my sister Mamie, who was 8 at the time. I came along 12 years later.
Nanos gigantium humeris insidentes – I stand on the shoulders of giants. I am here because of them. I studied physics because my great-grandfather and his brothers in their own way were fighters, and did not let challenges of violence defeat their dream; my grandfather Moses was an educator and sharecropper who provided mightily for his family; having friendships that endured after his passing and men to raise his son, and my father (Pop) mechanically gifted, brilliant and kind: enduring years of discrimination to bring home money for his family, passed over for promotions and did not let bitterness poison the dreams of his son: me.
He and my mother would help me achieve the rank of Brigade Commander of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools: the highest rank in the city, and the first African American. He was instrumental in my learning the fine art of military drill with a rifle, and how to shoot both rifle and pistol, orienteering and public speaking. He and my mother were Deacon and Deaconess at Galilee Missionary Baptist Church.
In college on my initial troubles with Calculus, Pop purchased a book on the subject; studied it for two weeks and tutored me! Problems solved.
(I attended coincidentally, New Light Church when I lived in Austin, Texas before I knew this history or its significance.)
Happy Father’s Day, gentlemen: I thank you all.
