Headline: GREG
FREEMAN'S WARMTH AND WISDOM THROUGH THE YEARS
Reporter: These Excerpts Were Compiled By Deborah Shelton\And Bill
Smith Of The Post-Dispatch.
Publication: ST.
LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: 1/1/2003
Section: NEWS,
Page: A8, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT
[web note:
column titles & links added]
On family tradition and food fights:
We will be having the traditional Freeman family eggnog. This eggnog recipe was created by my grandfather. My father made it, I've made it, and now our son, Will, makes it. ... Every year, when we make the eggnog, my mother never thinks there's enough Scotch in it. She's not a big drinker, but she says there's not enough to wake up the flavor. I, on the other hand, think that more Scotch would not only wake up the flavor but the neighbors next door as well.
- Dec. 22, 2002
["Our
Holiday Food Fight Always Ends Sweetly, With Something For Everyone" -
full text]
-----------------------------------
On racial segregation in St. Louis:
Various studies have called St. Louis on its segregation, but little has happened to change it. Few efforts have been made to do anything about housing segregation here. It's the elephant in the room that no one talks about. ...
As unfortunate as it is, don't expect anyone to speak up in effort to improve the situation, at least not anyone in officialdom. Don't look for politicians to come forward. Don't look for real estate brokers to do anything about it.
Yes, trying to do something about it would be the right thing to do for the metropolitan area. But sometimes the right thing to do isn't the most popular thing to do. And, let's face it, lots of people here are quite comfortable with the racial segregation that exists.
- Dec. 1, 2002
["St.
Louis Is Among Most-Segregated Cities - And Most Of Us Are Comfortable With
That" - full text]
---------------------------------------------
On his kidney transplant and the gift of life:
Cheryl and I were already close, but the kidney transplant has brought us closer together. I sometimes tap my hand on the right side of my belly - that's where the kidney is transplanted - and assure her that I'm taking good care of it. After all, it's not every day that you're thrown a lifesaver. And when you do catch one, you hang on for dear life. So as everyone sits down to dinner today and remembers what they're thankful for, I'll be thinking of my sister. To her, I will always be thankful.
- Nov. 28, 2002
["Thankful
For Life -- One Year After My Sister Saved Mine" - full text]
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On interracial marriage:
For me, the issue of interracial marriage hits home. Regular readers know that my wife is white, and our son is biracial. In the 23 years of our marriage, we've seen a marked change in the way the public looks at us. When we first married, we found that we were the object of everyone's interest. Though it made no difference to us because we were comfortable with one another, we would often find that wherever we went, people would stare at us. Ultimately, we learned the trick of staring back - something t hat usually got the offending person to turn away, embarrassed. In recent years, we've noticed that we no longer get the stares.
Of course, interracial liaisons are hardly new in this country. One can go back to Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, the slave with whom he is believed to have had at least one child. But while such relationships were only whispered about at one time, they're out in the open today. And contrary to those who suggest that such couples are marrying to make a statement, or because of some sort of self-hatred, most interracial couples marry for the same reason most people of any color marry: because they love each other.
- Nov. 5, 2002
["Hollywood
May Retell A Love Story That's Less Unusual Today" - full text]
---------------------------------
On a downtown comeback:
The naysayers are being proved wrong. Downtown is making a comeback, and Washington Avenue is an example of that. ...
I heard from plenty of people saying that the idea of bringing downtown back to life was futile. It would never be what it was, they said. I agreed that it never would be what it was - St. Louis and the nation itself have changed a great deal in the last 50 years - but it still could be brought back. ...
Downtown still has a way to go. But progress is being made, and buildings that were old are new again. Naysayers will always be around. But as supporters of downtown St. Louis are beginning to attest, you can get a lot accomplished if you ignore them.
- July 30, 2002
["To
Doubters Down On Downtown: Things Sure Are Looking Up" - full text]
--------------------------------
On a St. Louis summer:
How hot is it
in St. Louis?
It's so
hot in St. Louis, the birds are using potholders to pull worms out of the ground.
...
It's so
hot in St. Louis that carrots are cooking underground, and all you have to do
is pull them up and add salt and pepper. ...
It's so
hot in St. Louis, people sunbathing in Forest Park aren't bringing their sunscreen,
they're bringing their dental records.
- July 23, 2002
["It
Was So Hot Here That We May As Well Joke About It" - full text]
-------------------------------
On building bridges:
Unfortunately, many people feel that the area's racial divisions aren't their problem. The problem lies with the other. I'm doing all the right things; why can't the other do them too? Many of us take so much time demonizing the other that we don't have time to look at ourselves. Is there something we could do differently? Are we sending messages that we don't intend? Are we effectively getting our point across? ...
Out of this column nine years ago grew a program called Bridges Across Racial Polarization. Bridges was formed after I had written several pieces about the area's racial tension. A reader, Dan Schesch, invited me to lunch. We lamented how blacks and whites here often talked at one another, but rarely with one another. Finally, we came up with an idea: What if we could come up with a way for people of different races to get together on an informal basis, talk about race and ultimately develop friendships across racial lines? ...
Today, Bridges is considered a success. Last month, for instance, after taking nearly three years to study Bridges, the Pew Charitable Trust chose it as one of only 19 programs across the country deserving of its Wanted: Solutions for America designation. And three years ago, the President's Initiative on Race named Bridges one of the nation's promising practices. Today, about 400 St. Louisans are participating in Bridges groups. That may not be a lot of people, but it's a start.
- June 13, 2002
["Listening
Is The Key For Blacks, Whites To Build Bridges" - full text]
---------------------------------
On moving from his house:
It's not easy leaving this old house. So many memories were made here. Will's first bike. The many Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, the many Mother's Days and Father's Days. The magical times when Will was so full of excitement he would wake up at 3 a.m. to look for his presents under the Christmas tree. The bevy of dogs and cats who endeared themselves as part of our lives over the years. The special evening that we took pictures of Will and his prom date on the wooden staircase, a photo in which he looked just like my late father.
- May 19, 2002
["It's
Tough To Say Goodbye To A Home That So Reflects Us" - full text]
---------------------------------------
On the responsibility of black men:
Your behavior is unacceptable. And it's time for the rest of us to stop tolerating it. And while we're talking about not tolerating things, there's something else we've got to stop tolerating: impregnating young women out of wedlock. An increasing number of young black men are having two, three, even four children out of wedlock by different mothers. Nearly three out of four black babies are born out of wedlock to mothers who are young and poor. Some of you mistakenly think that this is an issue of manho od. You're wrong. The ability to be responsible for yourself and for others is what sets a man apart from other species. If you're not ready to settle down and help raise a baby in a healthy and stable household, you're not ready to be a father.
- Feb. 19, 2002
["Brothas,
Let's Unite -- Against Violence, Irresponsible Sex" - full text]
---------------------------------------
On racial profiling:
Since Sept. 11, more than one African-American has expressed some relief at not being in the suspect group, at least for now.
But just as simple profiling by police is a lazy form of police work, being rude or violent toward people who outwardly appear to be Islamic or Middle Eastern can be a lazy way of sizing up people, especially if we make decisions entirely because of someone's appearance.
Our skin color isn't a matter of our choosing. And more often than not, we tend to choose the religion that our parents chose for themselves. Neither is it a predictor of how we think or how we behave.
We can't help but profile people. We notice things about people, and some features stand out more than others to us.
The key is teaching ourselves to take a closer look, a deeper look. What we find beneath the surface is often quite different from what we assumed at first blush.
- Nov. 1, 2001
["Profiling
Gives Us A First Impression, But Not A Lasting One" - full text]
-------------------------------------
On Sept. 11:
I was in my car Tuesday morning, on the way to a gas station, when I heard the news over the radio. One minute, the radio host was talking about whether Michael Jordan would play basketball again; the next minute, he was reporting that a plane had crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. After I bought gas, the news broke that a second plane had crashed into the second tower of the building. Then, as if in a film with surprise twists and turns, the news flashes came, one after the other:
A plane had crashed into the Pentagon; planes had been hijacked; one tower of the World Trade Center had collapsed, then the other. What was happening? I wondered. I sat in disbelief.
- Sept. 12, 2001
["On
A Terrible Day, We Share In The Nation's Disbelief And Concern" - full
text]
-------------------------------------------
On justice for animals and children:
Where were the protesters when 7-year-old Luke Maue of St. Peters was hit by a car and killed outside the Zoo by a motorist who police said was intoxicated and driving as fast as 70 mph in a 15 mph zone? I don't recall seeing any petitions in that case.
Or how about the cases this summer where children died in closed cars because their parents either weren't paying attention to them or forgot that they were in the vehicles? Were those deaths not worth demonstrating about?
How about the drive-by shootings that took place this summer, especially those where innocent youngsters were shot? I would never criticize animal rights activists for their concern in this case. But I do have to wonder why the same concern doesn't carry over to children. Are the lives of animals more important than the lives of children?
- Aug. 23, 2001
["If
Dusty's Death Can Stir Such Passion, Why Can't A Child's?" - full text]
-------------------------------------
On Cornelius the cat:
When Will leaves, I want to say see ya to the cat and move on. But this cat has a way of growing on you, and fast. Just when I get irritated with him for knocking something off the mantel or scratching the furniture, he jumps in my lap and falls asleep, purring happily the whole time. Or he comes to you to have his belly rubbed. Or he starts a game of soccer with a ball of aluminum foil.
Clearly, I've got to watch it. If I'm not careful, Cornelius is going to make my wife and me go out and adopt a cat of our own. Who knew this stranger could have such power?
- Aug. 2, 2001
["Small
Visitor Makes A Big Impression -- Much To Our Surprise" - full text]
---------------------------------------
On the pleasures of the spa:
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not really a spa kind of guy. There are men who are spa kinds of guys. You know who they are. You see them on the cover of magazines like GQ and Esquire. Blindingly white smiles. Impeccable dressers. Muscles from here to there and back again. Faces that look like they were chiseled on their bodies. That's not me. The only thing on me that goes from here to there and back again is my stomach. The only magazine that might consider me for the cover is Field and Stream.
- Dec. 10, 2000
["An
Agreeable Introduction To Physical Pleasures Of The Spa Proves To Be Mind-Expanding"
- full text]
---------------------------------------
On gratitude and giving thanks:
I am thankful for nature. ...
I take it for granted far too often. But the sensation of a gentle rain cascading on my face, the feel of a slight wind caressing my skin, the sound of rustling leaves on a clear, dry day - I love them all.
They remind me that the world is a much bigger place than I can even imagine. They remind me that despite all the bad things that go on in the world, there are plenty of good ones as well.
- Thanksgiving
Day, Nov. 25, 1999 ["Sometimes
We Need to be Reminded of the Blessings Around Us" - full text]
---------------------------------------
On his son, Will:
No longer is he the little boy who shadowed me wherever I went, the toddler who was fascinated with the computers at his daddy's office, the child who fidgeted as he and his father listened to a speech by Alex Haley. ...
That little boy has been replaced by a young man, tall and handsome, smart and smart-alecky, a collector of baseball cards and an admirer of Ken Griffey Jr. ... I can close my eyes and see myself hoisting him in the air, humming the theme to "Superman" and watching him scream with glee, at a time when he was no bigger than a pillow. He's a big guy now, too big for anyone to pick up, a voice too deep to scream about anything. The closeness remains. He still gives me a hug every so often, and we still have fun chats together. But the young man is growing up, and his interests, like those of other young men his age, are turning in other directions. He's with me now, and yet I miss him, or at least miss the little boy he used to be. In a few years, I'm sure I'll miss the teen-ager he is now.
- April 30, 1996
["Father,
Son Quality Time Decreasing In Quantity" - full text]
---------------------------------------
On children and guns:
Parents must teach their children - practically from birth - that human lives are valuable and that life is not a television show in which, after a person is shot on one show, he shows up again, fully intact, as a guest on another program. Children - and unfortunately, some adults - have to learn to resolve their differences without guns. If you say something odd to me, or you look at me the wrong way, or if we have an argument, that's not a reason for me to blow you away.
- Nov. 27, 1992
["Guns
In School: Deadly Issue" - full text]
-----------------------------------------
On author Alex Haley and black history:
His efforts went a long way toward making African-Americans realize the importance of their family histories. For blacks - a people who, in most cases, cannot trace our families back beyond slavery - Haley provided a realization that all was not lost, that African-Americans still have a history in this country that is as significant as that of anyone else.
- Feb. 14, 1992
["'Roots'
Author Alex Haley Moved Blacks, Whites - And 10-Year-Old" - full text]
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