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from Harold Fields

Dear Second Tuesday Friends,

It was with great sadness that I learned of Joyce Meskis’ death on December 22nd. She was well known and celebrated as the founder of the Tattered Cover Book Store and a champion of the First Amendment. She was a national leader and innovator with independent book sellers.

Not so many knew her as a champion in race relations by collaborating with Clara Villarosa of the Hue-Man Experience Book Store to host a community dialogue on race. That meeting grew into a monthly discussion that lasted for more than two decades. When I started facilitating the discussions in 1997 it was known as “the Race Group” that was sponsored by the Tattered Cover. Joyce gave us meeting space in a large conference room on the third floor of the LoDo book store until she had to downsize and lease that floor out. She was involved in every meeting – sending out announcement letters before email became popular, bringing snacks and beverages to each meeting.

We started having meals with those who could come early at the restaurant on 16th Street across the alley from the book store, and Joyce would come to eat when she could work into her busy schedule. Whenever possible she arranged for us to meet with national authors who were in town at the time of our discussions. The thing that Joyce treasured most about our meetings was when we shared our personal stories. She knew that this was the glue that would help us build community and trust with each other.

When space was no longer available at the LoDo store, she tried to figure out how to give us a private space at the new Colfax location where we would not be interrupted by shoppers. But the old Lowenstein Theater was not configured to handle this. As we moved our discussion to Park Hill Congregational Church and eventually Park Hill United Methodist Church because of the growth in our size, Joyce continued to be with us until 2010.

My relationship with Joyce grew beyond these monthly meetings. She became a mentor who took me to meetings with city leaders, politicians, architects, and developers. She felt they should be dealing with the layers of race that got ignored in their decision making.

And Joyce supported numerous events I sponsored by having members of her staff bring books to sell at a number of events. She even let me introduce some featured authors and bring a choir to perform at an event. I am sure that at least a half of the 3,600 books in my home library came from the Tattered Cover. When she closed the beloved Cherry Creek store, Joyce let me take some of the old bookshelves and magazine racks. Every time I look at them now, I will remember Joyce. She now joins the list of Race Group and Second Tuesday members who are with the Ancestors – Carmen, Eleanor, Helen, Gwen, Lonnie, and Eric. None will be forgotten.

Harold

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Dear Second Tuesday friends,

As 2021 comes to an end, I have no problem saying Goodbye to it. We have seen dramatic changes in our climate, severe attacks on reproductive rights, a U-turn on racial justice and the expansion of voting, and a pandemic that finds new ways to infect the population. A snapshot view of events might tempt is to agree with Chicken Little that the sky is falling. I am motivated to take a longer view and see tremendous possibilities in the chrysalis time we are in.

I do miss our monthly meetings together and hope that you are maintaining good health. And I hope to be a cheerleader for the things that inspire you to keep moving ahead. The passing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu gives me an opportunity to reflect on something he said: “When you do your little bits of good where you are, it is those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” He was such an inspiration to me as the leader of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. Although TRC was not perfect, it has shown us another pathway to healing the soul and repairing the damage of unthinkable racial oppression. There is plenty of unfinished business that needs our attention.

I want to share with you a 30-minute video that is probably one of the most hopeful accounts of how healing from slavery and racism can get rolling I’ve experienced. Fifteen years ago, some of us from Traces of the Trade and Second Tuesday were involved in the creation of Coming to the Table, the initiative to bring together descendants of formerly enslaved persons and descendants of former enslavers for healing.  I share this video because it demonstrates what can come out of extended engagement like Second Tuesday. 

15th Anniversary CTTT Commemoration Video

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1io3u6zN-4XxGoh10PWpspXbL_ZTXPMY-/view

I wish for everyone a meaningful 2022. And I would love to hear from you about the continuation of our journey. You can reach me at fuzzyfield@aol.com where we can catch up.

My very best,

Harold Fields

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Here is a link to a Front Porch article that features two Second Tuesday members, Lotte Lieb Dula and Harold Fields.  They both discuss the work they have been engaged in starting two funds for reparations and how their personal backgrounds figured heavily in this path.
Here is the link to the article:

https://frontporchne.com/article/paying-nations-original-sin/

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From Harold Fields:

Recently I found a few pictures from the very last Juneteenth meeting we had for the “Race Group” at the Hue Man Bookstore.  It would be great to post them as part of our history.  In them you will see (1) James Keown and his daughter and on the right Kathy Boyer; (2) Sandra Henderson, Eleanor Green, Alice Parker; and (3) the founding mothers Clara and Joyce.  The lady in the first pic, standing between James and Kathy, is Barbara (I think).  She worked at the Tattered Cover and was killed a couple of years later by a car while crossing the street at 18th and York.

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Dear Second Tuesday Friends,
I am hopeful that during the last few months you have been healthy and secure during times of massive turmoil and openings for immense transformation.  I have missed being with you so much.  We all have been overwhelmed with wave after wave of information about COVID-19, being on the economic precipice, tragic deaths, amazing protests, and converging movements.  There are even dozens of discussions and articles about Juneteenth that did not happen even a year ago. I chose to not add to the flood of data coming your way, but instead be quiet and reflective.
There is no way to predict when it would be safe to resume gatherings at Park Hill United Methodist Church.  So many of us are in the high risk category.  I must announce that it is time to bring this iteration of racial dialogues to a conclusion. It has been a very difficult decision that I’ve wrestled with and discussed with the facilitation team for weeks. After twenty-two years I must shift my energy and focus.
I am so grateful to you, the hundreds of people who have been involved and journeyed with us to create a space where we can learn, challenge each other, provide support for facing the oppressive forces we face daily, and build a caring community.  You have brought your curiosity, ideas, skills, stories, frustrations, insights, and hopes.  Thank you for your commitment to re-member a broken human family.  So many enduring friendships and connections have come from our time together.
I want to express my profound thanks to the team that has been with us to make things happen: Dena Samuels, John Ferguson, Angela Davis, Jason Vitello, Kenny Wiley, the staff at Park Hill, and the dozens of guests who have answered the invitation to come share their wisdom with us. A special shout out is due to our resident poet Norma Johnson.
We always wanted to provide a model for how to engage around a most difficult subject.  And now it seems that the whole country, indeed the world, is talking about race and equity and what to do about it. I don’t see this as a “mission accomplished” moment, but an important step in the momentum a movement needs to go from this new public awareness to crafting alternatives and putting in place the foundations for a new paradigm.
Don’t forget that 12 years ago, after the election of President Obama, the popular sentiment became that the country had become “post-racial.”  In fact, it uncovered the fact that we are Most Racial as a nation. We must help those new to their racial awareness understand that the work is much deeper than pulling down statues, than changing the names on buildings or neighborhoods. The work is getting to the deep roots of ideology and structures.
One of our founding mothers, Clara Villarosa, wrote to me last month, “I gave you a seed and you made a huge tree.”  I would add that the tree has lots of branches and plenty of roots.  I’m proud of the number of conversations we have helped create or inspired in many churches, schools, living rooms, board rooms, documentaries, and geographical areas.  We have heard from many deep thought leaders, writers, and activists.
I feel that you have everything you need to keep going.  First of all, you have the desire to make a difference.  Second, you have participated in and seen how important an historical perspective is to disrupting the old racial agreements that built our current institutions.  You are aware of the cost of racism and separation to the psyche of white people in addition to the deadly toll to Black America, other people of color, and the LGBTQ community.  Add to that the ever-growing body of books, videos, websites, and other resources that bring clarity to the ongoing debates in society.  I feel confident that there is an abundance of tools you can employ to move our discussions into action.
I will be doing the same thing – taking what I have learned for decades and taking actions for reparations.  I have been working with a group of donors, a panel of African Americans, and the Denver Foundation, who want to be part of local solutions to the legacy and consequences of slavery.  We have created the Denver Reparations Fund whose purpose is to rebuild institutions within the Black Community of the Denver Metro Area as well as throughout the State of Colorado and beyond that were destroyed during the enslavement of African and African descendant people; to facilitate the reestablishment of Black institutions that were destroyed by the oppression that was imposed post-slavery; and to facilitate the development of Black institutions that were prevented from coming into existence by that oppression.
You can donate to the fund by clicking here.  I would love to keep you aware of what we are doing and opportunities to get involved in a variety of ways.  Once we make the official announcement, I will send you a link in which you can opt in to receiving more details about reparations.  We may also send you occasional messages from this Second Tuesday address about opportunities and events we think you find interesting.  Feel free to opt out if you are not interested in receiving emails.
It is fitting that this message is going out on Juneteenth because that has been our annual meeting to close each season.  I hope we can gather one more time to celebrate when the environment is adequately safe.  In the spirit of sharing reflections at each Juneteenth celebration, please take a look at this article from Teaching Tolerance on the historical significance of the holiday.  It is a reminder that enslaved Black people in America always resisted and strived for freedom -- even as we see today that it is only Black resistance in protests that finally moves the country to change even a little.
Finally, I want to share something that Cornel West said in dialogue with our friend Belvie Rooks.  It’s from her new book with her late husband Dedan Gills, I Give You the Springtime of My Blushing Heart. “The truth is, we are all wounded.  The only question is whether we use our wounds to wound others or whether we use our wounds to heal.”
Once you have been meaningfully exposed to the reality of a system based on supremacy, you cannot un-see it.  I trust that you will continue to learn, continue to share, take risks, and make a difference.  It’s been my honor to share part of your journey.

With deep love and respect,
Harold Fields
fuzzyfield@aol.com