Alabama's Anti-Immigration Law: The Faithful Take Action

Yesterday at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church on Birmingham's Southside, the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ACIJ) gave a presentation called Immigration 101. We heard a host of reasons why Alabama’s Immigration Law is being opposed by many of our state’s citizens. Some myths about immigration were presented and clarified as well as facts about Alabama's extreme anti-immigration law. Two of the myths that were countered were that immigrants don't pay taxes and that they come here to take welfare. In actual fact, last year in Alabama, immigrants paid $132 million in taxes. Furthermore, immigrants are 86% more productive than native-born workers.


We heard about inspiring, and even heroic measures that are being planned by St. Andrew’s parishioners to attempt to bring some sense of justice in the wake of an unjust law. For those of us who grew up with memories of the Jim Crow laws and the KKK, Alabama’s new law is particularly disconcerting. Once again we are seeing how fear and the need for power and control have led to harmful legislation. Alabama has made national headlines for passing the strictest immigration law in the country.  The bill forces attorneys to choose between the law and their own code of ethics regarding attorney/ client privilege. It has already cost the state income by affecting farmers' ability to harvest crops and keeping investors away from Alabama. 

Thousands have already rallied against the law and clergy from many denominations are opposing it. Many faith communities are protesting the unjust law.  If you want a quick view of reasons why this is a bad law, the Center for American Progress has compiled 100 Reasons Why the Alabama Immigration Law is a Disaster, which you can read here.

One reason that it is important for faith communities to take action, and why I was so inspired to hear the discussion at St. Andrew’s Church, is that there seems to be little public interest in taking action. A recent Alabama survey showed public apathy on a wide range of issues. According to the survey done by the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, jobs are the number one issue for the state legislature to consider this year, with 32% ranking it as the most important. The number two ranking in the survey was “no opinion” which came in at 22%. Education was at 13% and all other issues were in the single digits, with immigration ranking at 5%.

Today, I want to give a word of praise to the congregants at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church and their rector, Father Ed Hunt, for showing interest and being willing to take action for the cause of justice.  There are things all of us can do right now, such as phone or write your state representative and ask them to repeal Alabama’s Immigration law. The Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ACIJ) has a team ready to share information with your church or community group. Check out their website here. 




*

A Word about Curmudgeons

Someone just told me that today (January 29) is National Curmudgeon Day. In honor of this day, I am posting a poem I wrote years ago, inspired by a true curmudgeon within my circle:





On Crabgrass and Curmudgeons

I don't like it
That there is crabgrass in my yard.
I hate that it creeps across the walkway
No matter how often I clear it away.
Yet I must admit
That except for the crabgrass,
Some parts of the lawn
Would never be green.

                                         CLK


*

Blind Willie McTell

"I know no one can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell"

If you haven’t heard of Blind Willie McTell, you must become acquainted with this man who played a foundational role in the formation and recording of American blues music. An African American musician blind from birth, he performed throughout the South and East and made recordings in the 1920s and 1930s. He had a distinct vocal style and a versatility on the 12-string guitar. His recordings were in the category of what the industry termed “race records” in those days. He was “re-discovered” by John Lomax who labored to record for posterity authentic American Music.In 1940, Lomax recorded McTell’s music as well as interviews with the singer for the Archive of Folk Culture of the Library of Congress.

An innovator, McTell blended traits of the earthy Delta blues in the South with the ragtime beat of the Piedmont blues in the East. His work has been covered by many modern musicians, most notably the Allman Brothers and Taj Mahal, both of whom recorded “Statesboro Blues.”   In the 1970s, when Contemporary Christian music was just getting a foothold in the record industry, Honeytree had a hit with McTell’s song, “Ain’t It Grand to be a Christian.”

Bob Dylan wrote and recorded his song, “Blind Willie McTell” during sessions for his Infidels album in 1981, but the song did not appear on that album and was not released until 1991 with the first volume of the Bootleg Series. Some of his colleagues at the time wondered why Dylan did not include the song, which was one of his best, on the Infidels album. For my part, Infidels is one of my favorite albums and I don’t think “Blind Willie McTell” would have fit in with the rest of the content. Even though we had to wait a few years for it, it is probably better that this wonderful tribute was released later when it could stand on its own for the great song that it is in commemoration of the influential blues singer.

While celebrating McTell’s talent, Dylan artfully captures the milieu in which the blues arose with such phrases as, “ghosts of slavery ships” and “Hear the cracking of the whips / Smell that sweet magnolia blooming.” You can hear Dylan’s recording of the song here. 

It is only right that Bob Dylan pays homage to Blind Willie McTell. Dylan often acknowledges his debt to American folk music, and in his early days he was seen as a being strongly influenced by Woody Guthrie. Listening to Blind Willie McTell, however, especially when he is singing a Delta blues rhythm with those repetitive phrases, one hears a definite source and inspiration to many of Dylan’s most effective songs. Below you can hear Blind Willie McTell singing, Statesboro Blues and see some photos of him from You Tube. For more information about Blind Willie McTell, you can read about him in the New Georgia Encyclopedia here. Scroll on down to see Bob Dylan’s lyrics to "Blind Willie McTell."

Blind Willie McTell
By Bob Dylan

Seen the arrow on the doorpost
Saying, "This land is condemned
All the way from New Orleans
To Jerusalem."
I traveled through East Texas
Where many martyrs fell
And I know no one can sing the blues
Like Blind Willie McTell

Well, I heard the hoot owl singing
As they were taking down the tents
The stars above the barren trees
Were his only audience
Them charcoal gypsy maidens
Can strut their feathers well
But nobody can sing the blues
Like Blind Willie McTell

See them big plantations burning
Hear the cracking of the whips
Smell that sweet magnolia blooming
(And) see the ghosts of slavery ships
I can hear them tribes a-moaning
(I can) hear the undertaker's bell
(Yeah), nobody can sing the blues
Like Blind Willie McTell

There's a woman by the river
With some fine young handsome man
He's dressed up like a squire
Bootlegged whiskey in his hand
There's a chain gang on the highway
I can hear them rebels yell
And I know no one can sing the blues
Like Blind Willie McTell

Well, God is in heaven
And we all want what's his
But power and greed and corruptible seed
Seem to be all that there is
I'm gazing out the window
Of the St. James Hotel
And I know no one can sing the blues
Like Blind Willie McTell

*