Up in the Heavens, Down on the Earth

Drive through the blighted section of any city and you will find an MLK Avenue, Drive or Street; in these same communities there is invariably a school, rec center or housing project named after hazily recalled historical figures like Phyllis Wheatley, Crispus Attucks, Frederick Douglass, Mary McCloud Bethune, Ida B. Wells, George Washington Carver and Benjamin Banneker. Funny how history can immortalize a name but dispose of details that made these individuals shine during his or her lifetime. The simplified biographies of Banneker and Carver tell that one was an almanac writer, the dude who laid out the plans for Washington, D.C. and that the other was the an Uncle Tom who could work wonders with the humble ground nut. What else is there to know? A lot.

My accidental intrest in Banneker and Carver came from essays and biographies of black women authors from the United States. Remembered conversations with my friend and visual artist/poet/philosopher/curator Kevin Sipp . This, in turn, linked to my interest in food and nutrition, intercultural relationships, as well as the present green and technological revolutions (that have some common but many conflicting goals) are some of what has made me curious about the these scientists, neither of whom had children but both of whom were fruitful in terms of their creative output.

Though born during the U.S. colonial era, the reach of Banneker's imagination was saved from the near-sightedness often inflicted upon and that afflicted many of the enslaved. In large part this was probably true because Banneker was born free to free-born parents. His was of a materially stable landowning family and partly descended from a British grandmother named Molly (Walsh) Bannaky . Molly Bannaky not only taught her grandchild the fundamentals of literacy but may also have been responsible for passing along the cultural wisdom of her deceased Dogon husband to their mixed race family. Banneker knew how to play the flute and violin and would grow to become a farmer, mathematician, writer, land surveyor, astronomer and social reform advocate with each interest flowing freely into the next. (For more on the Banneker history see this review and synopsis of Charles Cerami’s well researched Banneker biography. For more on the Dogon people's relationship to astronomy, see Sacred Sites of the World website.)

Carver was born in the Midwest many years after Banneker under less privileged circumstances. He spent his childhood as a slave, and on top of this had the misfortune of becoming an orphan; both left him with a shaky sense of belonging. His owners were said to have abolitionist sympathies that ran parallel to their need to keep slaves and make a living. They were therefore open to Carver learning to do things like read, paint and make music. In later years, Caver's path would lead him to rise higher than Banneker in terms of his formal education, earning a master’s degree and going on to become a fellow of the British Royal Society for the Arts and advisor important public figures and politicians. He was botanist, chemist, teacher, writer, enviromentalist, philanthropist and devout in his religious faith. (For more on Carver, check out Gary Kremer's George Washington Carver: In His Own Words and Tonya Bolden's children's book )

All of the above is very interesting to me. But what I find most fascinating about Banneker and Carver has to do with the inclusiveness, the holistic nature of their study. Their genius arose because of the way that they seemed to connect intellectual pursuit to development of the spirit. Their minds and hearts were open enough to thread together observations and knowledge that some might be tempted to view as separate. I see them as being spiritual descendants of the multifaceted ancient scholars of the East-- anonymous indigenous sages of all continents as well as the noted Middle Eastern hakeems and European renaissance men-- who were as well versed in poetry as they might have been in mathematics, astronomy, and navigation. All of them took serious the atom as universe idea/universe as atom idea, aware that that paying attention to what is near to us (be it our own souls or what is growing in our back yards) can reveal much about those things that seem to live light years away.

If I were a canvas painter or mural maker, I might create a panorama depicting these two men. Washington’s space would be lit by the sun with him paying close attention to the life and vibrations buzzing directly under foot. Banneker would be looking up at illuminated darkness as he deciphered the poetry of the heavens, time and space. Surrounding them both might be a frame resembling the design of a traditional ketubah. Mingled into the border would be Dogon masqueraders amidst vines of southern plants and flowers, paint brushes, musical instruments, the very top of the scene crowned by the brightly shining star Sirius. A flowing banner would be stretched along the bottom, pulled along by either Carver's jesup wagon or a pair of birds . It would echo some Old Time saying like, "As it is above, so it is below."

Ketubah image from Ketubah By Kamy . Dogon masqueraders image from Elineage.com