I give myself gifts every now and then....tonight I gave myself a gift.

When I entered junior high, the first thing I did, was to enroll in the debate class which altered my way of thinking...words as weapons.

I love the art of debate...a thinking persons way of exploring ideas. The point of debate...is a proposition..."Resolve..." The art? You must be able to argue both points with sources to back up your proposition. You must be able to use these sources by using logic...and knowledge...and the art is born from the ability to understand the proposition...argue it using sources...and win...with logic and eloquence. You must know the opponents weapons...and use this in your arsenal...a war of words is no blood sport for those who cannot or will not think...before speaking.

So...tonight I watched a little movie. "The Great Debaters". And once again I was taken back to my early years...and my first proposition..."Resolve whether the United States should be involved in unilateral military intervention." And so it was, that a wee lass learned not so much about this argument...but rather about the art of it.

And so it was the son of a Methodist minister, Melvin Beaunorus Tolson was born in Moberly, Mo. He moved with his father, the Rev. Alonzo Tolson of the Methodist Episcopal Church, from parish to parish throughout Missouri and Iowa.

Tolson completed high school in Kansas City in 1918. He showed an early interest in poetry, drama, and debate. He published his first poem, on the sinking of the Titanic, in a local newspaper in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

He attended Fisk University in Nashville and graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1924, and in that same year he moved to Marshall, Texas to teach Speech and English at Wiley College. While at Wiley, Tolson built an award-winning debate team which, in 1935, beat University of Southern California/ Harvard University in the national championships. An excerpt from the 1936 Wiley Yearbook, “The Kitten” described the debate team “beating most of the (black) colleges and several outstanding white universities…Lost one debate out of 75…Completion of the tentative date with Oxford in England in 1937.”

In addition to his teaching duties, he coached the junior varsity football team, directed the theater club, co-founded the black intercollegiate Southern Association of Dramatic and Speech Arts, and organized the Wiley Forensic Society, a debating club that earned a national reputation by breaking the color barrier throughout the country and meeting with unprecedented success.

His official biography indicates that he mentored students such as James L. Farmer, Jr., know for his work in the Civil Rights Movement and providing assistance in organizing the sit-ins and Freedom Riders and Heman Marion Sweatt, plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court case, Sweatt v. Painter, against the University of Texas Law School, a decision that led to the creation of Texas Southern University, and James Wheaton, actor, director and educator.

In addition to the outstanding contributions he made to the development of scholars and community leaders in Texas, Tolson won greater acclaim as a poet who wrote poetry, including his first poetry collection, “Rendezvous with America”, which includes “Dark Symphony” in 1941 “Libretto for the Republic of Liberia” in 1953, “The Harlem Gallery” in 1965 and other works.

Now, this is a movie...and Harvard is the school...and there are other changes...but the light of the movie is from its gift of sight...or insight. It is the capturing of the thrill of debate...the discipline of the art...and the man who took young minds to a place few visit...the world of ideas...thought and form.

I work on Christmas Eve and on Christmas day...so tonight I gave myself a little gift...or a great one...and I am grateful to have had the chance to see this little movie...if you do...you will be better for having invested time...in just experiencing the love of thought...given voice...and argument.


Oh...and I think they used Harvard...as a David and Goliath theme...it works...for me

Merry Christmas,

I think that we are coming to a close of this holiest of seasons. I hope that you are taking some time...to enjoy the joy of the season.

Love,
The Lass



Keep your rightous mind....I just love that...