What was lost and why
Both jazz and Black baseball have some roots in Kansas City, along with many other US cities. Both museums, plus a display in the atrium between the two, emphasize that this neighbourhood -- called "18th & Vine" -- was the centre of a thriving Black community that, in a sense, was destroyed by integration, or at least de-segregation. That is certainly the story of the Negro Leagues, the Black press, and many other Black American institutions. It was the sad, ironic price of the successes of the civil rights movement.
To me, it sometimes seems like the nostalgia for those vibrant days doesn't adequately emphasize why these parallel Black institutions existed: because Black people were not allowed to participate in mainstream American life, and the penalty for attempting to do so -- for defying Jim Crow -- were severe, often fatal, and routinely visited on the entire Black community. No story provides stronger evidence of that than that of our next stop, Tulsa.
I can understand the nostalgia, especially considering how historically Black communities were neglected after de-segregation, with crappy schools and an almost total lack of services. And as a writer, I know that it's never easy to balance a story with "this, but that, too". Here at 18th & Vine, I feel there is too much "this" (it was beautiful then) and not enough "that" (it was unjust, and dangerous, and scary, and hideous).
The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum does a better job of that, since the sole reason for the Leagues' existence was racism. There is a good walk-through what the Negro Leagues were, why and how they developed, who the stars were, who organized and funded the teams, what conditions were like, and so on. But still, it begins with a short overview film (narrated by James Earl Jones), which concludes with something like "then Jackie Robinson made it and everything was grand". Even two more sentences of how long it took to actually integrate, how Black players were shut out of coach and manager positions, or the prejudice they faced in the earlier years, would have helped. You could write that and still end on a hopeful note of steady progress.
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
The museum itself? Meh. In several places, glass display cases were blocking printed information, many objects on display were not identified at all, information was in the wrong chronological order, terms were not explained. It wasn't a total mess like the Egyptian museum in Cairo, but there were several instances of these missteps. People do love this museum, and I think most people wouldn't notice these things, but a professional organization shouldn't make these errors.
Socialism, feminism, and unionism -- or not
One excellent piece was an entire display, including an excellent short film, highlighting the work of Lester Rodney. Rodney was a sportswriter for the socialist newspaper The Daily Worker. Rodney made the fight to integrate baseball his fight, both in his writing and by organizing. Day after day, year after year, he called out baseball's racism, using many different tools, including pickets and petitions. At one point, he delivered more than 1.5 million signatures of fans to Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the racist commissioner of baseball who (along with racist team owners) was responsible for the ban on Black players continuing as long as it did. Rodney was a hero of the civil rights movement, and he was a socialist. Allan and I were both so happy to see him highlighted.
There was a section on Black women in baseball, which was great. But did it have to be titled "The Beauty of the Game"?? I was horrified.
While I'm complaining, would it kill historians to occasionally note the importance of trade unionism in these fights? In the early NLBM displays, there is a general timeline running parallel to the baseball information, to give the viewer a sense of what was happening in the larger country and civil rights movement, concurrent with the Negro Leagues. I was very pleased to see A. Philip Randolph and the Sleeping Car Porters there. But why not identify the first succesful Black-led labour union, or idntify Randolph as union leaders, or even use the word union at all?
Connie Morgan, a Black, female ballplayer I had never heard of, apparently worked for the AFL-CIO -- which I only learned in a sentence saying she retired from that organization. Was Morgan a labour activist? We don't know, since apparently we don't talk about unions.
The film in the 18th & Vine exhibit also highlighted the success of Black teachers and waiters, without ever mentioning that thrived through being organized. It highlighted the roles of social clubs and churches in organizing pickets and boycotts, but not the role of Black trade unions.
Gift shops without books!
The NLBM carries only shirts, hoodies, and caps, with a sad, tiny section of books -- a few titles, some copies damaged. The American Jazz Museum did only slightly better, with a nice display of children's books. But considering all the books on jazz that are out there, it still sucked.
Allan said that on his first-ever visit to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, the gift shop offered a huge section of books. He had no money and literally spent his last dollars on a SABR publication -- even that was there. On his next visit to Cooperstown, when we went together in 1989, there were almost no books. This is very sad. Unforgiveable.
Neither of us wanted anything from the NLBM gift shop. At the AJM gift shop, I bought a great pair of earrings, and a collection of Ralph Ellison's writing on jazz, and Allan found a set of three bookmarks featuring the art of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Allan loves Basquiat and collects art bookmarks from everywhere we travel, so that was perfect.
The carnivore's vacation
After the museum, we spent a long time driving around looking for a grocery store (even with Google Maps) to replenish our supplies, then went back to the apartment so I could rest. We were still deciding which barbecue restaurant to try, but it turned out many had closed for the day or would be closed by the time we got there.
We ended up at Jack Stack, a local chain. The menu, service, and food were all amazing. I had a combination plate with lamb ribs (I had no idea that such a thing existed in barbecue!) and baby backs; Allan had a combo of burnt ends, sausage, and spare ribs. The beans were rich and molassesy, and slaw was light and tangy. Naturally, half my dinner is in the fridge right now, waiting for my breakfast. But even Allan has leftovers waiting for him, from both Stroud's and barbecue. We also each had a "KC Lemonade," made with lemonade, blackberries, and vodka, a treat for us these days.
When we didn't order dessert, Allan said something about my being tempted by crème brûlée -- and with our check, the server brought us a crème brûlée packaged to go, on the house. Super nice!
I have not yet stubbed a toe
The Airbnb is working better now that I've figured out some of the accessibility issues. We decided to keep our one-night reservation here later in the trip, rather than cancel and book a hotel. We'll probably re-pack so we can bring fewer things down the steep steps.
Today is our day in Kansas City without the jazz and baseball museums. We're planning on seeing some buildings downtown, including the famous library, eating more barbecue, and possibly hearing live music tonight.
I don't care about art museums unless there's a collection or a specific work or artist I want to see -- in which case I care hugely -- and no city on this trip qualifies. We don't enjoy zoos or aquariums, because animals, and we don't care about science centres. That automatically rules out a lot of sightseeing. But we do enjoy architecture, and walking around cities, and I wanted to make sure we saw a litle of KC.
Also on my list: a drive into Kansas City, Kansas, making this trip three states I had never visited -- Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas -- rather than two.
No comments:
Post a Comment