PNG

Life Isolated

Perhaps, like me, you have been termed a PNG in one context or another. No matter your station in life, nor how stable an individual you are, the persona non grata declaration, official or not, delivers a burden of guilt. At least the people or person doing the shunning hope so. In diplomacy, the idea is to officially let you and the world know you are unwelcome. You are not alone, if you've been publicly declared a PNG. Yes, there is a list, and, from the look of it, once on the list, always on the list.

     The international diplomatic list is lengthy; some of the PNGs have done or are alleged to have done pretty nasty stuff. Others .... well, you be the Judge. The entire list can be found on Wikipedia. A couple of modern examples from the government of the Philippines caught my eye, because I was born near Manila, at the United States Naval Hospital, Cavite.

• 1998 - Actress Caire Danes was In the Philippine Islands for the shooting of the film, Brokedown Palace. In an interview with Vogue Magazine, Danes is said to have referred to Manila as a "ghastly and weird city." I thank Ms. Danes for her truthfulness. However the Philippine Repubic declared her a you-know-what.

• 2009 - Alec Baldwin appeared on the Late Show with host, David Letterman. In a joking manner Baldwin referred to Filipino and Russian "mail-order brides," or the availability thereof. He was not merely declared a persona non grata by the Philippine Government. According to the Wikipedia listing, threats were made against both Baldwin and his wife, should they ever to return to the islands. Whether Baldwin is Mr. Nice or not, a prominent Filipino, a senator and actor, himself, engaged in criminal threats.

     Anyone who has lived long in the context of family or friends has felt the weight of being unwelcome. The only child of two orphans, I was a lonely kid, always the new kid in the country, on the block, in school. I have consistently blundered my way through Family Relations 101, having earned black sheep status in my mother's eyes at an early age. I'd like to say she took me back into her good graces, as she was my sole living relative. By the time she died, however, we had been estranged for 6 years. As a final gesture the woman appointed my former husband the Executor of her estate, willing me $1. It was her last ditch effort to drag me to a mirror by my ear, forcing me to look at myself. It is reasonable to conclude I am not always the easygoing charmer you know and love.

     Do your family members or friends shun people? Does your church or school engage in shunning of one sort or another? If you are the person looking in from the outside, it is okay, my friend, this has been going on since biblical times. It doesn't make you, in sheep terms, baaaaaaaad. It is, at worst, a reflection on those who isolate you. At best it is an opportunity for introspection and growth. Self-imposed isolation is another thing altogether. Habitually retreating can become unhealthy; long-term, it is unproductive. 

Family quarrels are bitter things. They don't go by any rules. They're not like aches or wounds; they're more like splits in the skin that won't heal because there's not enough material. ~F. Scott Fitzgerald

Why be a dumb dud? Do your friends shun you? Do people cross the street when they see you approaching? Do they run up the steps of strange houses, pretend they live there and force their way into the hall while you are passing by? If this is the sort of person you are, you must avail yourself today of this new service. Otherwise, you might as well be dead. ~Flan O'Brien, The Best of Myles

     The saddest thing in American culture is our proclivity for rejecting and isolating others. We legitimately find the harsh aspects of disability, poverty and aging difficult to confront. I get it, but more than this, America worships youth. We prefer the cosmetic banishment of all reality we deem unattractive, rather than confront life face-to-face. Or we'll do anything to delay by declaring, "I can't deal!" 
     As far as elderly people are concerned, unquestionably, we may become impatient or downright temperamental. Some are poor, in pain, or both. A long life, any elder will tell you, accumulates bitter disappointment and unbearable loss. Age prejudice can make of anyone something of a curmudgeon, trust us. This is not to say certain health conditions require professional interventions and care. Just know it is wrong to leave them suffering and dying alone. 
      Then there are lively, lovely people we leave behind, simply due to extremely busy schedules or life's ongoing pressures. Here are some suggestions for elders and their loved ones:
http://www.aplaceformom.com/blog/9-2-14-reduce-senior-isolation/
Isolation, my friends, is the special bane of our golden years. It is absolutely a killer ... it kills the spirit, then, stealthily attacks mind and body.

Howard and The Greater Good

The collateral damage of America's economic downturn is apparent in our institutions of higher learning. It has affected none more than Howard University and its teaching hospital, although Howard is privately endowed and receives financial support from Congress. Two years ago a trustee sounded the alarm, citing "genuine trouble," financial crisis. The "trouble" was not in the school, itself. In fact the school operated at a $13 million profit in 2014. It was Howard University Hospital, which reported a $58 million loss, bringing the outlook of the entire institution down. Furloughs of hospital staff in 2013 had, apparently, not saved the day. February 2014 brought major layoffs, so the April 2015 layoffs of school staff should not be as shocking as they are. It is not so much the fact of the 80 plus cuts. It is not even the abruptness that raises questions. It is the manner of the firings, particularly in light of the historic values and mission of Howard.

     A Washington Post article recounts the experience of E. Ethelbert Miller, who found himself locked out of his university computer and e-mail, after 40 years of service. The 64 year old Howard veteran later found a larger-than-usual paycheck deposited to his bank account. He still has the keys to his office. Miller, a known poet and the Director of the Afro-American Studies Resource Center at the University, has not been contacted directly by the university administration, neither regarding termination, nor his severance package. Adding insult to injury Miller's roots in Howard University go deep; he is a 1972 graduate of the school. The treatment he received is as unworthy of Howard University as any of the 2014 stories, and there have been some doozies:
http://hbcubuzz.com/good-bad-ugly-top-22-hbcu-stories-2014/  
    Clearly the problems run deeper than finance, but why would Americans of all cultures decry Howard's evident decline, both as an institution of higher learning and as a community? To begin Howard University has proudly awarded more than 100,000 degrees in the professions, arts, sciences and humanities, since 1867. It ranks in the top producers of Black professionals, holders of doctorates in a variety of fields. These contributions to what we could term the greater good of the Nation distinguish the University, but do not define it.

     Howard University has been at the center of this country's civil rights history, dating from the end of the Civil War. The University was named for a founder, Union Army General, Oliver O. Howard, known during war as "The Christian General."At the end of the war General Howard became President of the U. S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands (the ill-fated Freedmen's Bureau.) Howard and his bureau sought to provide safe harbor from prosecution for Blacks designated contraband, as well as to provide basic needs, skills and education for refugees.

     The Bureau failed for political reasons; however, General Howard succeeded in joining forces with others of The First Congregational Society to found a University in Washington, D.C., dedicating it to higher education, primarily, for freedmen. General Howard eventually became the President of the University. The first offering was a degree program in Theology, principally, for aspiring clergy. The curriculum grew to include Medicine and Liberal Arts. Today the curriculum of Howard University is extensive. It is important to note that acceptance to Howard was not and is not based upon ethnicity, nor sex. Howard's earliest students were white and female, daughters of the founders.

     Howard University is one of 106 Historically Black Universities in the United States; the school prides itself on being singular among them as "the only truly comprehensive historically black university" in the country:
http://www.huarchivesnet.howard.edu/9908huarnet/muse1.htm 
Here is an excerpt from the University's website, regarding the school's mission:

"The University has long held a commitment to the study of disadvantaged persons in American society and throughout the world. The goal is the elimination of inequities related to race, color, social, economic and political circumstances. As the only truly comprehensive predominantly Black university, Howard is one of the major engineers of change in our society. Through its traditional and cutting-edge academic programs, the University seeks to improve the circumstances of all people in the search for peace and justice on earth."

     Indeed Howard University is inextricably linked to America's Civil Rights history and future:

http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/3-organized/howard-university.html
In his June 1965 Commencement Speech at Howard University, Lyndon Johnson spoke of the University's history and role as an instrument of change. (See and hear his speech on YouTube.) President Johnson spoke of justice and expectation, saying, "... American justice is a very special thing. For, from the first, this has been a land of towering expectations. It was to be a nation where each man could be ruled by the common consent of all--enshrined in law, given life by institutions, guided by men themselves subject to its rule. And all--all of every station and origin--would be touched equally in obligation and in liberty." 

     We can only hope Howard University returns to its values and mission, because resolving the fiscal dilemma will not suffice. Meanwhile Howard has some tall explaining to do, especially to one 64 year old gentleman poet.