Project Artifacts: Through the Banks of the Red Cedar

Abstract

Project Artifacts:Through the Banks of the Red Cedar Maya Washington (bio) A documentary film abc World News Tonight. August 3, 2011 Diane Sawyer: We have a passing to note tonight.A star of sports and later the movies: Bubba Smith,born Charles Aaron Smith in Beaumont, Texas. The 6’7”defensive standout for the Raiders, Oilers, and Colts.He went on to act in the Police Academy movies.Bubba Smith was 66. Los Angeles, CA – August 2011 You ever thought about how your body fits in the worldHow big fits with small and vice versaHow I’m a giant but I can’t go in that storeHow I left the Golden Triangle with change in my pocketHow I returned in a white RivieraHow I affixed five gold decals on the door to spell my name like an address I’ve got all the riches, baby, one man can claim You ever thought about how a body fits in the worldHow every article starts out saying I’m 6’7” and 290 poundsWhat I hear when a stadium full of white folks chants “Kill, Bubba, Kill”How being this big this black and this fast feels on game day [End Page 133] What it’s like to fall for a Lansing girl and take her to a movieHow easily I settle into darkness when her arm rests against mineHow cramped it all feels when the lights come onWhat it’s like not to hold her hand as we walk home I’ve got all the riches, baby, one man can claim Think about how a body fits in a worldHow a heart breaks like a record or a boneWhat it’s like to be the number one pickHow people only remember a white RivieraWhat I weighedHow tall I stood I’ve got all the riches, baby, one man can claim Washington, DC – August 1963 Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Andthose who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steamand will now be content will have a rude awakening if thenation returns to business as usual. —Martin Luther King, Jr. Baldwin Hills, CA – August 2011 I don’t know how many times I’ve cut through Baldwin Hills to get to’sc from Inglewood or Culver City over the years. I could have beenwalking through the Target parking lot on La Cienega as he passed inhis car on the way home from the gym. It’s been a week since he died—the news teams and their live shots are no longer on the front lawn.There’s a quaint little potluck spread of fruit, crackers, cheese, andmeats on the dining room table. My dad and his teammates tell stories.The den reminds me of my dad’s trophy room and the ’80s. I sit onBubba’s enormous sofa as if I’m Lily Tomlin. As if I’m the little girlstanding next to him while he signs autographs at msu homecoming [End Page 134] back when he was Police Academy famous and I heard On the Banks ofthe Red Cedar for the first time. He was my first real-life movie star. Theonly man I’ve ever met that was bigger than my dad. Who I realize, inthis moment, was once 19, had friends, and a life, long before I wasborn. He’s been fielding calls from reporters on his flip phone the wholetrip. Details about how they played against each other as teenagers inan all-black league. I wonder what would have happened if Bubba andhis dad hadn’t spoken up when Duffy asked if there were any otherblack boys they should take a look at. I wonder how many heavilyrecruited kids today would go out of their way to tell a Division I schoolabout an opponent 80 miles away. Most of my life, I believed magicalwhite men came down to Texas, plucked my dad out of Jim Crow, andgave him a scholarship to msu. He played for...