BLEACHING HISTORY* COFFEE QUOTES * CELEBRATING LAURA * Bill's Coffeeshop Newsletter * Vol. 14 * Feb. 4, 2013

BLACK HISTORY MONTH RESPONDS TO "BLEACHING" OF AMERICAN HISTORY
Remember that "Lure of the West" exhibit several years ago at the UI Art Museum? It was the one which excluded all voices in the American West except a handful of white male artists from the East Coast. There were no Native American voices, no African American voices, no Latino voices. Debate about this nearly filled three issues of the Wild Bill's Newsletter and spilled over into college classrooms and local newspapers.

Such a narrow view is a good example of what Malcolm X called the "bleaching" of American history. Only the white voices remain.

This is not a new problem. Over 80 years ago, Carter G. Woodson, dean of the liberal arts college at Howard University, responded to this by starting Black History Month. (Originally, it was only a week.)

But it is a persistent problem, as the UI Art Museum exhibit illustrates. There are still too many places where a white-only vision of America persists.

Look at travel, for example. Page through the AAA Magazine or another travel magazine and see if you can find any faces which are not white. There are few in either the stories or the advertising. (A notable exception to this "bleaching: the travel guides published by the state of Iowa. These offer a far more balanced picture.)

Look at weddings. Page through the spring wedding guides which are now coming out and see if you can find anyone who is not white. It is not easy.

This is a "whitewashing" of our history -- institutionalized prejudice which persists. It skews our view of people around us past and present. Marlon Riggs says this results in "ethnic notions" -- stereotypes we develop about each other. (Riggs' film "Ethnic Notions" is available on videotape at the UI library.)

February offers us a chance to try to restore some of this lost history and clear up some of those stereotypes. Here are some places to look for information about the history of African-Americans, with a particular focus on Iowa:

Outside In: African-Americans in Iowa. This is a wonderful book with nearly 600 pages of little-known history about African-American families in Iowa over the past 175 years. A copy of the book can be found at many public and college libraries.

African-American History Museum in Cedar Rapids. A great treasure of information about African-American history. http://www.blackiowa.org/education/black-history-moments/

African-American history in Davenport: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americans_in_Davenport,_Iowa

COMING UP THIS WEEK
AT UPTOWN BILL'S

Monday, Feb. 4
6 pm. AA meeting

Wednesday, Feb. 6
1-4 pm. Chess & Scrabble Group.
3 pm. Recovery International Support Group
7 pm. Spoken Word. Ten minute slices of poetry and other writings. Open to all ages & abilities

Thursday, Feb. 7
6 pm. Artvaark (art activities)
7 pm. Open Mic. Ten minute segments of music and other performances. Open to all ages and abilities.

Saturday, Feb. 9
7 pm. Saturday Night Music: Laura Ingalls Wilder Night with Marc and Brandi Janssen. Music, stories and more about Laura and her "Little House on the Prairie."

COMBINED EFFORTS NOW RECRUITING
Combined Efforts, a local theater group open to all ages and abilities, is seeking people for its next production. Rehearsals start soon; their next show will be April 16 at Uptown Bill's. For more information, check the group's web page:www.combinedefforts.org. Contact the director at: combinedeffortstheatre@gmail.com

A SMALL CUP OF COFFEE QUOTES
Coffee (also coughee): One who is coughed upon
CoffeE: precedes coffeF
Filther: Dirty coffee filter

Uses for coffee filters: Recycle frying oil, hold tacos, prevent a popsicle
from dripping -- www.wackyuses.com

Coffee is an essential part of any class longer than 90 minutes; any class
longer than 30 minutes after 6 pm.

LOOKING BACK IN THE BILL'S NEWSLETTER
Twelve years ago (2001): Dorothy Day was also a founder of social work
Eleven years ago (2002): Black history month responds to bleaching of history.
Ten years ago (2003): Why so few women artists in UI art museum?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bill's Coffeeshop Newsletter is a virtual extension of Wild Bill's Coffeeshop and Uptown Bill's Coffee House. Published since 2000, the Newsletter is written by Tom Gilsenan, a former manager of Wild Bill's and now director of Uptown Bill's. You can write to him at tomgilsenan@gmail.com

Wild Bill's Coffeeshop is a project of the School of Social Work at the University of Iowa. It has been a part of campus life in Iowa City for more than 35 years. Located in North Hall, the coffeeshop is open Monday through Thursday, 8 am to 8 pm. For more information, check the Wild Bill's Coffee Shop and Friends of Bill's Coffeeshop pages on Facebook. You can call the coffeeshop at (319) 335-1281. Donations to support the work of the coffeeshop may be sent to: Bill's Coffeeshop Fund, University of Iowa Foundation, P.O. Box 4550, Iowa City, IA 52244. Contributions are tax deductible.

Uptown Bill's is the crosstown cousin of Wild Bill's. Now in its 12th year, it includes a bookstore, performance venue and other businesses in addition to a coffeeshop. Located at 730 S. Dubuque, Uptown Bill's is open Monday through Saturday from 11 am. For more information, check the Uptown Bill's website or Facebook pages. You can call Uptown Bill's at (319) 339-0804. Donations to support the work of Uptown Bill's may be sent to: Extend the Dream Foundation, Uptown Bill's, 730 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City, IA 52240. Contributions are tax deductible. You can also donate online at the Uptown Bill's website: www.uptownbills.org