Mister Bill called and asked me to write a poem for Oretha, to be presented in a tribute in her honor by The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra on February 22, 2019 at their building located on the corner of Martin Luther King and Oretha Castle Haley Boulevards. Oretha Castle Haley (July 22, 1939 – October 10, 1987) was an iconic New Orleans civil rights veteran and community activist whom Bill Rouselle and I had known and been led by.
MING THE MERCILESS—OUR FIELD GENERAL
We knew her as Ming The Merciless
Our nom de guerre for Oretha Castle Haley
Who fiercely led us into battle, often
Against foes we didn’t know secretly opposed us
When I was but a handful of years out of short pants
I was the eleventh-grader sitting in at Woolworth’s
Under Ming’s guidance, an ardent warrior against segregation
Ask Mr. Schwegmann, whose lunch counter we confronted
At his new store off Chef Menteur & Paris Road
Along the Industrial Canal in the vast Ninth Ward
The future home turf of the SOUL Civil&Silver Rights organization
Eventually co-led by the Weasel (Sherman Copelin)
And the Bear (Don Hubbard), a CORE veteran,
It took the cunning and brawn of the two of them to match
Oretha’s insightful social and political maneuverings
Schwegmann’s heavy, brown paper supermarket bags
Were much sought for a politician’s slogan or smiling face
As those shopping bags were familiar to many a voter as well
As to school students who religiously used them
To cover their textbooks—some of us even drew big, bold
Purple and crimson declarations of love
Full of intertwining red hearts and roses
As in Alfred loves Angela on those beige bags
The major avenue for Black retail shopping, Dryades Street
Was renamed Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard in her honor
But long before the name change she was already
Seeing around corners most of us didn’t know
We would have to turn in the course of our long march
Toward long sought political freedom and economic equality
Ming declared public education a major battlefield
A fight we ultimately loss in the new millennium
When New Orleans no longer has any public schools left
Under the democratically elected school board’s direction,
The rapacious bandits of privatizing education
Are making a killing commandeering the charter movement
And essentially foreclosing one of only two
Major political/economic foundations of our Black Community
—Containers on ocean-going ships
Destroyed the longshoremen’s union, indeed, I literally
Almost cried when I saw the ILA (International Longshoremen’s
Association Hall) falling beneath a wrecking ball, after all
That auditorium was where we Blacks held civic meetings
And proms, concerts and dances, were Otis sang a simple song
And the Royal Dukes of Rhythm played complex big band
Arrangements for our dancing and listening enjoyment
But beyond the merriment stood an institution that
Literally supplied both money and manpower for our
Sixties and Seventies uprising that not only led to numerous
Gigantic gatherings: sports activities, and a plethora of
Conclaves, conventions and exhibitions from the Sugarbowl and
Superbowl to gun shows and automobile roundups
But also supplied economic incentives and a cornucopia of
Money making opportunities, especially for Superdome Services Inc.
A purveyor of maintenance, janitorial, and event staffing
Headed by the Weasel and the Bear, the duo had moved
From political brokerage to economic development
Between the school teachers and the longshoremen
And all the institutions that were thereby supported,
From corner stores to mansions in the newly developed
New Orleans East, where else could we go, where else
Were we welcomed, where else could our community
Grow, thrive and develop? Where else in or near New Orleans?
That’s why many of us reluctantly but nonetheless valiantly
Took on the overthrow of the all-white school board
That educator Mack Spears first integrated, not insignificant
Considering that the Crescent City was the birthplace of
SCLC, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
And Ming made us young knuckleheads understand the
Significance of controlling our own education and the myriad
Of opportunities associated there with, long term strategy
Was Ming’s forte, anyone could win a dustup or even a mayoral
Election, she taught us to go beyond just winning a battle
When there was a protracted struggle to overcome, which is why
Ming was a leader in championing public healthcare,
Saddle-up warriors she commanded and led the charge
Championing public and affordable healthcare and medications,
A battle that sooner or later we all needed to wage
Whether as patient or advocate, or both
Ming was on it, her dulcet tones gently, and when necessary,
Forcefully waking us up to our responsibilities and opportunities
Ming The Merciless was, is and always will be a major inspiration
For me and countless other New Orleanians woke and aware
Of what time it really is and what we ought to be doing
To confront evil and advance all that it
Good and righteous in this world
All hail Ming The Merciless
All salute Oretha Castle Haley
A woman at the forefront of struggle for
Truth, justice and a truly egalitarian American way