"Memorial Day: What Your Teachers Never Told You!"

It's time to Break It Down!

OK, so Memorial Day was earlier this week.  You may be familiar with my holiday week philosophy, which is make it easy on the readers, who are always otherwise engaged, no matter the holiday.  Of course, in the process, I am also giving myself a break.  That makes for a natural win-win scenario.

With that overarching thought in mind, I will endeavor to apply three elementary rules of communication:

1.      Utilize the KISS Principle, AKA, Keep It Short & Simple (also Keep It Simple Stupid)

2.      Convey new or “not widely circulated” information

3.      Always remember to emphasize points 1 and 2 above 

Memorial Day is a federal holiday to honor America’s fallen soldiers.  It originated after the Civil War.  Falling between Easter and Independence Day, it is often equated with a late spring break, or a pre-summer respite.  The weekend typically includes a cornucopia of sports.  For example this week included the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600, the start of the NBA Conference Finals, College Men’s Baseball playoffs, and College Women’s Softball competition.

With the rapidly heating-up political season thrown in the mix, the holiday is sometimes almost lost in the shuffle.  But wait; Memorial Day has a special cultural significance.  In fact, it is because of that nexus we should pay special homage to this late spring holiday.

The first well-know observance of a Memorial Day type was held May 1, 1865 in Charleston, South Carolina.  Over 250 Union solders that had been prisoners of war, dies in Charleston, and were quickly buried in make-shift graves.  A group blacks, mostly freedmen, organized the observance and led clean-up and landscaping of the burial site.

Most of the nearly 10,000 people who attended were freedman and their families.  Of that number, 3.000 were children, newly enrolled in freedman’s schools.  Mutual aid societies, black ministers, and white Northern missionaries were also in attendance.

David W. Blight, Professor of American History at Yale University, and Director of the school's Gilder-Lehrman Centerfor the Study of Slavery, Resistance, & Abolition, described the day this way:

"This was the first Memorial Day. African Americans invented Memorial Day in Charleston, South Carolina. What you have there is black Americans recently freed from slavery announcing to the world with their flowers, their feet, and their songs what the War had been about. What they basically were creating was the Independence Day of a Second American Revolution.”

Professor Blight conceded there is no evidence that the Charleston event led directly to the establishment of Memorial Day across the country.  But the record is clear they formed the earliest truly large scale event, complete with media coverage.  Their effort was the prototype, if not the catalyst.

Having said that, I believe I honored the rules established above for this post:

1. Told this story in a direct and uncomplicated fashion
2. Presented information I am confident most readers did not know
3. Recognized points 1 and 2, were accomplished and closed the post

Enjoy your bonus time, and be sure to reflect on “Memorial Day: What Your Teachers Never Told You!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_W._Blight

http://www.davidwblight.com/

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/KISS_principle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS_principle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War

http://www.sbnation.com/nascar/2012/5/29/3050769/nascar-coca-cola-600-2012

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Motor_Speedway

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1198428-previewing-nba-conference-finals-latest-news-buzz-from-around-the-league

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_University

http://www.yale.edu/glc/index.htm

http://www.civilwarhome.com/freedmen.htm