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Memory (Not Erasure) of the Past: “My life is from them.”
Posted by Wallace+
I had the privilege of hearing Ernest Gaines read while in Sewanee years ago; and I will never forget it. Talk about an authentic American voice.
With a slave burial ground currently in our headlines, here in Richmond, a New York Times article this week is especially timely and poignant: it tells the story of how Gaines has saved the resting place of his enslaved ancestors.
He says, "If I didn't have those people back there, I would never have had anything to write about. That's where I got all my stories from. My life is from them."
"My life is from them."
Blessings upon Mr. Gaines, and blessings upon his ancestors.
Amen, amen.
Pictured: Ernest Gaines revisits the Cherie Quarters, where his family lived for generations, near the False River, Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. Photo by Philip Gould
Tags: new york times, sesquicentennial
