By Gloria DULAN-Wilson
This is personal: I am sending a special birthday greeting to my favorite uncle, and favorite person on the planet - outside my Mom, Dad, Brother,Sisters, Man, God & my kids - My uncle Adolf Dulan - my Dad's baby brother, who has the distinction of being the stalwart patriarch of the family, is celebrating his 77th birthday today, June 18, 2011, in Los Angeles, California. I want to salute him. So join me in doing so.
When I say they don't make them like him any more, I'm not exaggerating. He's a fine Black man - not just playboy, pretty boy fine - he's that kind of fine that just mellows and gets better looking with age. He's articulate, intelligent, educated, principled, and a gentleman - definitely a lady's man - in that he knows how to treat a lady like a lady, and respect her as a woman at the same time.
He's managed to be successful on so many levels - in his business - he owns Dulan's Soul Food Kitchen in Los Angeles - which started out as Hamburger City, evolved into Aunt Kizzy's Back Porch (now owned by my cousins - Tiffany and Danielle Dulan); he's raised 5 kids, and taught them each positive work ethics, the value of family and the importance of keeping your word.
He's got jokes - a great sense of humor; and great taste in clothes, friends, and his lady - he always manages to be involved with someone who is intelligent, articulate, stylish and an asset (Dorothy, you rock!)
My Uncle Adolf, son of Zady and Silas Dulan, brother of Warner Hale Dulan (my Dad), Alene Dulan (Talton) and Zethel Dulan (Thomas) were all raised on Oklahoma Soil in a shack on the prairie - for real!! No electricity, no gas,no plumbing - basically a sod house that my grandparents built themselves - with an outhouse, no less, in a little town called Luther, Oklahoma.
Oklahoma, which means land of the red people, has soil that is as red as our Indian heritage, and as richly Black as the African heritage, and the mixed bloodlines that course through our veins.
My granddaddy was a stickler for education, and we are all the same way. He put all his kids, as well as his brothers and sisters through college - Langston University, in Oklahoma.
When Adolf relocated to California after the Korean War, to put down roots, he became a social worker, and worked for years in the community trying to help others have a better life. When he decided to go into business for himself, he took a big dose of his own medicine - his own advice - and began to look for ways to develop an autonomous business that others would resonate to. He never stopped learning, exploring, inquiring, trying new things. Though the beginning was initially rather rocky - with some hit or miss efforts - when he evolved into Aunt Kizzy's he found he had a hit on his hands. Those cabins you see on the walls at Aunt Kizzy's and Dulan's Soul Food Kitchen are real - my Uncle literally went from rags to riches, using his ingenuity, talent, and the foundation laid by my Grandaddy Silas.
Soul food (comfort foods) that appealed to African Americans, as well as to the broader population, was based on old family recipes that had been shared down through our collective families; it was such a hit, that he began to be mentioned on such television shows of the day as Arsenio Hall and others.
Not one to rest on his laurels, when he decided to go the way of just soul food to go, Dulan's was born - just 7 years ago - when most people would be hanging up their hats and putting themselves out to pasture - not my uncle.
Adolf is better than the energizer bunny - he has taken that energy and ingenuity to a whole 'nutha levul.'
I recently told my daughter that if there was a way to clone him I would do it - just so young ladies her age could experience what it is like to be treated with respect, dignity, and have fun doing it - but, I observed, if they were able to clone Adolf, the rest of the guys her age would never stand a chance. They'd either have to step up their game or step off.
Never a 4-letter word, a b-word, a n-word from his mouth. Always a smile; always a compliment; always that great sense of humor. Always listening, and reflecting back to you so that you know you're communicating and comprehending.
The kids call my generation "old school", while we call Adolf's generation "real school".
Make no mistake about it, though, he's no pushover - he is from Oklahoma - and we don't play. The school of life he comes from is a combination of the Code of the West; the nobility of the Indian Nations (Creek); and the "gentility" of of the South. (Notice I put "gentility in quotes - the South was anything but genteel).
Black Indians (whites had another name for us) are a totally different breed of cat - we used to say, he laughs, and he jokes, but he don't play.
Does it sound like I'm bragging about my uncle - of course I am - and who better than me - the first born niece!! Proud of him - proud he's my uncle - he's stood with and by the family in good and bad times, and we have stood by him. Our tribe is tight!
And my admiration for him doesn't stop with me. He's loved by so many in the greater Los Angeles area. But he's never lost his down home touch. And that's part of his charm. Elegance, style - with just a touch of humility. Not only will he feed you some of the finest Southern Soul cuisine west of the Mississippi (T-Bone Steak, catfish, swai fish, collard greens, candied yams, real corn bread, okra, corn & tomatoes, short ribs, ox tails, smothered chicken, mac & cheese, black eyed peas, friend chicken, not to mention my Cousin Greg's Salmon Croquets, biscuits and grits!!!; with Ice Cold Watermelon, an avocado salad - by my cousin Ling; deep dish peach cobbler by Dorothy - are you hungry yet?)
And while you're washing it down with lemonade, Adolf will regale you with stories about growing up in Oklahoma, and our relatives that will keep you cracking up the entire evening.
I wish I could be there in person to celebrate this wonderful occasion with him and the family. Since I can't be there in person, I'm writing this article to give him his props, and to let him and the world know how special he is to me and all the family: Mom Ruby Love, Warner Jr., Brenda Nell, Sylvester, Kira, Rais, Adiya, LaDawn, and the rest of the crew in New York, Oklahoma City, Maryland, Philadelphia, DC, Virginia, Chicago, Detroit.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE ADOLF!!!!
I love you muchly. May you have many more wonderful, blessed, fun filled and love filled years to come.
From Gloria Jeanne
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
PS: If you are traveling to LaLa Land stop by and tell them Gloria DULAN-Wilson sent you. Dulan's Soul Food Kitchen - (310) 671-3345 - Inglewood, CA 90312 · 202 E Manchester Blvd. GDW
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
NAACP's Unsung S/hero: Clara Luper, Civil Rights Activist in Oklahoma City, OK - Joins the Ancestors
bY Gloria Dulan-Wilson
This piece was originally written on February 10, 2011, during Black History Month, in response to an inquiry by the NAACP as to who we considered to be unsung Heroes and Sheroes. I immediately thought of Clara Luper, a former educator who had been the catalyst for many demonstrations and actions against the racists who were then ruining Oklahoma. I just received the sad news that Aunt Clara has now joined the ancestors, and I'm reprinting the article I originally did with a few additional commentaries of my memories of her that have stayed with me over the years. GDW
Hello to My OklahomaHomies and All My Family & Friends:
This is an expanded version of a response that I submitted to the NAACP query on who my Unsung Hero was. I immediately thought of Aunt Clara (Luper). Please do share this with her. I want her to know how grateful I am now and always for having had the privilege of being part of her leadership.
Stay blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
THE ARTICLE FOLLOWS:
My Unsung Hero of Black History is...
Clara Luper: Civil Rights Leader and Activist in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Ms. Clara Luper, a former teacher, led us during the days of the Civil Rights Movement, through sit ins and demonstrations during the 50's and 60's in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She was our mentor in the NAACP Youth Council, of which I was a member from the age of 10. She took bus loads of us kids to demonstrate against racists in Oklahoma City, who had segregated restaurants, department stores, etc.
Ms. Luper, now 80+ years old, was the inspiration for so many of us Oklahoma Baby Sooners and Baby Boomers Black in the day. She also worked with Daisy Bates of Arkansas, and helped those families who fled Little Rock to Oklahoma City, settle in our communities.
Up until a few years ago, Ms. Luper (or Aunt Clara, as we affectionately called her) and her son, Calvin (who also grew up in the movement with his mother) had a weekly radio broadcast on Civil Rights and equality, in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma was originally a territory set aside by the U.S. Government for the removal of American Indian, via the infamous Trail of Tears, from lands in the south to what was to be their own territory - “as long as the grass is green and the waters flow.” During the 85+ years of its autonomy, it was illegal for whites to go into the territory. For that reason, many Blacks who were escaping slavery, escaped into Oklahoma Territory; as well as those who originally traveled as "slaves" of the Indians who were removed, and were later given their freedom, or intermarried into the tribes.
Later after the Civil War ended, many other Blacks also emigrated to Oklahoma Territory to escape the retaliation of racist whites. Blacks and Indians either co-existed, or intermarried (in the case of my family, intermarried). Either way we thrived and lived happily, until the Oklahoma Run (Ruin) of 1889, when the territory was opened to racist whites, who came in, took the land, and tried to disenfranchise those Blacks who had been living free and independent for decades.
Oklahoma became a state in 1907, and the racists immediately began to try to reverse all the equality and autonomy enjoyed by the Blacks and Indians who resided there. By the 1950's - thanks to Texas, Missouri, Arkansas - Oklahoma was totally segregated. However, thanks those early Black settlers, we owned our own businesses, homes, schools, and did not really materially need them to establish our own communities.
In the late 1950’s,Clara Luper emerged as one of the leaders in challenging and breaking down racial barriers - though she was by no means the only one - Oklahoma has countless numbers of unsung S/HEROES - she stands out in my mind as a mentor/leader, who fearlessly stood up against the powers that be in Oklahoma City. Aunt Clara taught us to stand for our uniqueness, be proud of our Blackness and the accomplishments of our forebearers and contemporaries.
We were not trying to integrate, however; we were just trying to end segregation. Our education system, neighborhoods, and businesses were superior to theirs. We owned our own homes, had our own businesses , even had our own movie theatres, schools; we studied and celebrated Black (Negro) History as a regular part of our curriculum, from kindergarten through high school - not just once a year in February. We contributed every year to Carter G. Woodson's Institute for the Study of Negro Life and History, and read such Black authors as Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, E. Franklin Frazier, Frederick Douglass (for whom our high school was named while he was still living), as well as the white ones.
We only wanted equal access to the mainstream services and jobs, not (dis)integration. We weren't looking to get rid of what we had.
When we went on demonstrations, we were released from our school classes, without being marked absent. We sat in, kneeled in, prayed in, picketed, went limp, were spit on, sprayed on, frozen out, thrown into jail - we did this to re-open gates, not to throw out the baby with the bathwater.
We would converge on the area by the busloads after Aunt Clara would give us our instructions as to how to behave, where to line up, how to “comport” ourselves. Marilyn, her daughter, would often serve as her right hand in making sure we all had our marching orders. When I graduated from Douglass Sr. High School, and attended Hampton Institute, in the still segregated south, I took much of what I learned from Aunt Clara with me, and became involved with the local NAACP chapter on the campus, as well as other organizations that were then being formed to stand up for the rights of Black people.
My activist consciousness was largely forged by my interactions with the Lupers, as well as the fact that by and large, most Black Oklahomans had a great deal of pride and autonomy ingrained from our previous freedom before dis-integration.
I wish I had some photos of those days, but there are probably some that can be obtained by contacting the Luper family in Oklahoma City. I only know that as a result of Ms. Luper's mentorship, I have been and am a lifelong activist. I've tried to imbue my children, their peers, and all around me with the lessons I learned as a youth, and throughout my adult life in living in a society that wants to continuously relegate us to second class citizenship.
I was so happy to find, when I went home in 2008 on my way to the Democratic National Convention (prior to President Obama’s nomination for President), that several monuments had been erected in Ms. Luper’s honor. I was also proud to attend the 50th anniversary of the Sit-Ins in Oklahoma City. Many of the people who originally participated attended, and went over the many adventures we had under Aunt Clara’s leadership.
Clara Luper deserves high honor in the pantheon of Black leaders who dedicated and distinguished themselves to our liberation and equality.
STAY BLESSED &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
PS: Just spoke with her daughter Marilyn Luper-Hildreth, who informed me that she will be lying in state in the Oklahoma State Capital on Wednesday; there will be a Wake for her on Thursday, and her funeral will be held at the Cobbs Arena in Oklahoma City on Friday, June 17. Truly a homegoing ceremony befitting a dignitary and S/hero of her stature. While I could say Rest In Peace, I know that Aunt Clara won't rest until every last vestige of discrimination and segregation is expunged from our society.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Farewell to My Aunt Mary
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
For all of my friends who have been missing me me on the New York scene, I'm in Los Angeles for the homegoing celebration of my Aunt Mary, my mother's last remaining relative from her immediate family.
Mary Ann Nancy Ann Colbert Lacy Gaines-Hicks was my favorite aunt. She was the second youngest of six children - five girls and one boy - born to my grandparents Cornelia (Hornbeak)Gaines and Enoch Gaines, in a little town called Burneyville, just outside Ardmore, Oklahoma, on the Texas-Oklahoma Border. They were Eula, JoAnne, Altrecia, Mary, A.C. (Uncle Buddy), and my Mother, Ruby Love. Aunt Mary had the distinction of having the longest name in the family, having been named after several different family friends and relatives.
When I learned that Aunt Mary had made her transition to the realm of ancestors, a momentary feeling of sadness stole over me. She was my Mom’s older sister by just a little over a year, and, having reached the age of 89, would have in another 2 months would have officially been 90. My mom is 88! Being the last two members of the Gaines/Hornbeak side of my family, mother and Mary would talk often, comparing notes, reminiscing over things that they had done in their childhood. She in California, Mother in Oklahoma.
I dropped the sadness when I thought about my last memories of Aunt Mary - she was in her 80’s sporting a gold, on gold, in gold Cadillac Brougham, with her silver/white hair streaming down her back. She was a dynamic spirit. She represented quiet energy. Aunt Mary led a full, though somewhat sequestered, life. And she did this right up to 6 months before she made her transition. In fact, my Aunt wearing her hair natural was this example that inspired my mom to “go natural".
While my Aunt Mary never ran for or held political office; she was not a part of any of the civil rights movements or activities; neither was she a movie star, even though she lived in HollyWierd all of her adult life, she was definitely a success on so many levels.
She was one of the most beautiful women ever - next to my Mom Ruby Love, of course. My Grandaddy had rich, deep, dark, bittersweet chocolate brown skin, and Grandmom Cornelia being a beautiful Cherokee nation sister, together produced a beautiful crop of kids. Aunt Mary could have easily been on the cover of Jet, Ebony, Sepia, Tan or any of the other Black magazines of the day. She was always in style, always wore beautiful jewelry, fashionable clothes and smelled like a perfumery.
My first remembrance of my Aunt Mary was when I was about 4 or 5 years old. I was playing dress up and had gotten into her make up and her clothes - had on her high heels, had a big over sized purse hanging off my shoulder, and was clack-clacking around my Grandmoms, when my mother got on my case -- I remember saying, as if I owned her - “That’s my Aunt Mary!” Mary took some photos of me dressed up in her stuff - I wish I could find those them. What a kick that would be! Don’t know if little girls play dress up anymore - but Black in the day, we certainly had a lot of fun pretending to be grown up, imitating the people we admired the most - and I certainly admired my Aunt Mary.
Aunt Mary married J.D. Hicks, an entrepreneur, who took her out of Oklahoma to California, in the 40's, where she resided in the finest of homes. The times I went to visit her(which really weren’t often enough), she always treated me royally.
She had practically every gadget known to man (or woman); and, like most Oklahoma women, could cook, sew, and create. She designed clothes, furniture and any other concept that sprang to mind. She didn’t do it to be manufactured, or reproduced; she did it just to see if it would work. And when it did, she turned around and developed something else.
Aunt Mary was probably the closet to what you would call a recluse in our family. She and her hubby owned several clubs in Los Angeles - but Mary never went out. He traveled all over the world; she stayed at home; he liked to party, she loved the quiet times. Yet they were married for over 40 years until he passed on - the perfect odd couple. She made him a wonderful, loving home, and he would always return.
The wonderful thing about my Aunt Mary was that she was the family historian. Everything you ever wanted to know about our family, she was the one to ask. I recently learned that the Gaines side of the family was German; and one of the paternal family members was sent to Germany to study after they graduated from normal school in Oklahoma. Now, I’m still trying to wrap my mind around that since my great-grand mom was a former slave who would never live in the house my grandfather built because it looked too much like the “big house.” (But that’s another story for another day).
My Aunt Mary and my Mom, Ruby Love, spoke at least once a week, especially as it became evident that they were the last two remaining of the Hornbeaks(and depending on who you were talking to, on any particular day, you could also be a Hornbeck - we rocked back and forth between the two names). You heard little to nothing about the Gaines, except that my Granddaddy, who owned 180 acres of land, and some of our relatives share cropped on his property.
But my mother and her sisters were cultivated to be young ladies, and were not to be kept down on the farm. If you looked at any of the styles of the 1940’s you could see beautiful, vivacious, Black women, dressed to impress, setting the style and the tone. Where is Sepia Magazine when we need it?
My Aunt Mary could and should have been in one of Oscar Michaux movies; she should have been on the front cover of AARP as the poster girl for beauty after 80 - not a wrinkle anywhere!! Eyes bright and sparkly; quick, clear speech patterns. An absolute beauty - ageless, timeless, eternal.
That spark of energy is something that I will always remember and treasure about Aunt Mary. I know she's with the rest of our ancestors, and her beloved JD, coming up with some bright new concept, or playing a mean game of checkers.
My condolences to my Mother, Ruby Love, as well as to my Brothers, Warner, Jr., Silas Sylvester, and my Sister Brenda.
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Jeanne
For all of my friends who have been missing me me on the New York scene, I'm in Los Angeles for the homegoing celebration of my Aunt Mary, my mother's last remaining relative from her immediate family.
Mary Ann Nancy Ann Colbert Lacy Gaines-Hicks was my favorite aunt. She was the second youngest of six children - five girls and one boy - born to my grandparents Cornelia (Hornbeak)Gaines and Enoch Gaines, in a little town called Burneyville, just outside Ardmore, Oklahoma, on the Texas-Oklahoma Border. They were Eula, JoAnne, Altrecia, Mary, A.C. (Uncle Buddy), and my Mother, Ruby Love. Aunt Mary had the distinction of having the longest name in the family, having been named after several different family friends and relatives.
When I learned that Aunt Mary had made her transition to the realm of ancestors, a momentary feeling of sadness stole over me. She was my Mom’s older sister by just a little over a year, and, having reached the age of 89, would have in another 2 months would have officially been 90. My mom is 88! Being the last two members of the Gaines/Hornbeak side of my family, mother and Mary would talk often, comparing notes, reminiscing over things that they had done in their childhood. She in California, Mother in Oklahoma.
I dropped the sadness when I thought about my last memories of Aunt Mary - she was in her 80’s sporting a gold, on gold, in gold Cadillac Brougham, with her silver/white hair streaming down her back. She was a dynamic spirit. She represented quiet energy. Aunt Mary led a full, though somewhat sequestered, life. And she did this right up to 6 months before she made her transition. In fact, my Aunt wearing her hair natural was this example that inspired my mom to “go natural".
While my Aunt Mary never ran for or held political office; she was not a part of any of the civil rights movements or activities; neither was she a movie star, even though she lived in HollyWierd all of her adult life, she was definitely a success on so many levels.
She was one of the most beautiful women ever - next to my Mom Ruby Love, of course. My Grandaddy had rich, deep, dark, bittersweet chocolate brown skin, and Grandmom Cornelia being a beautiful Cherokee nation sister, together produced a beautiful crop of kids. Aunt Mary could have easily been on the cover of Jet, Ebony, Sepia, Tan or any of the other Black magazines of the day. She was always in style, always wore beautiful jewelry, fashionable clothes and smelled like a perfumery.
My first remembrance of my Aunt Mary was when I was about 4 or 5 years old. I was playing dress up and had gotten into her make up and her clothes - had on her high heels, had a big over sized purse hanging off my shoulder, and was clack-clacking around my Grandmoms, when my mother got on my case -- I remember saying, as if I owned her - “That’s my Aunt Mary!” Mary took some photos of me dressed up in her stuff - I wish I could find those them. What a kick that would be! Don’t know if little girls play dress up anymore - but Black in the day, we certainly had a lot of fun pretending to be grown up, imitating the people we admired the most - and I certainly admired my Aunt Mary.
Aunt Mary married J.D. Hicks, an entrepreneur, who took her out of Oklahoma to California, in the 40's, where she resided in the finest of homes. The times I went to visit her(which really weren’t often enough), she always treated me royally.
She had practically every gadget known to man (or woman); and, like most Oklahoma women, could cook, sew, and create. She designed clothes, furniture and any other concept that sprang to mind. She didn’t do it to be manufactured, or reproduced; she did it just to see if it would work. And when it did, she turned around and developed something else.
Aunt Mary was probably the closet to what you would call a recluse in our family. She and her hubby owned several clubs in Los Angeles - but Mary never went out. He traveled all over the world; she stayed at home; he liked to party, she loved the quiet times. Yet they were married for over 40 years until he passed on - the perfect odd couple. She made him a wonderful, loving home, and he would always return.
The wonderful thing about my Aunt Mary was that she was the family historian. Everything you ever wanted to know about our family, she was the one to ask. I recently learned that the Gaines side of the family was German; and one of the paternal family members was sent to Germany to study after they graduated from normal school in Oklahoma. Now, I’m still trying to wrap my mind around that since my great-grand mom was a former slave who would never live in the house my grandfather built because it looked too much like the “big house.” (But that’s another story for another day).
My Aunt Mary and my Mom, Ruby Love, spoke at least once a week, especially as it became evident that they were the last two remaining of the Hornbeaks(and depending on who you were talking to, on any particular day, you could also be a Hornbeck - we rocked back and forth between the two names). You heard little to nothing about the Gaines, except that my Granddaddy, who owned 180 acres of land, and some of our relatives share cropped on his property.
But my mother and her sisters were cultivated to be young ladies, and were not to be kept down on the farm. If you looked at any of the styles of the 1940’s you could see beautiful, vivacious, Black women, dressed to impress, setting the style and the tone. Where is Sepia Magazine when we need it?
My Aunt Mary could and should have been in one of Oscar Michaux movies; she should have been on the front cover of AARP as the poster girl for beauty after 80 - not a wrinkle anywhere!! Eyes bright and sparkly; quick, clear speech patterns. An absolute beauty - ageless, timeless, eternal.
That spark of energy is something that I will always remember and treasure about Aunt Mary. I know she's with the rest of our ancestors, and her beloved JD, coming up with some bright new concept, or playing a mean game of checkers.
My condolences to my Mother, Ruby Love, as well as to my Brothers, Warner, Jr., Silas Sylvester, and my Sister Brenda.
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Jeanne
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