Simple gestures, such as laying flowers at the foot of a shrine, lets the world know that there are some who still care for the people these monuments depict and recall. As you’re doing so, remember to say a prayer for the dead and for this fallen world around you.
We cannot let our heroes go unreverenced.
Southerners are, arguably, the most creative of all peoples on the North American continent. We have a love for history and tradition which carries down through the ages like the blood which passes through our veins. It permeates and pulsates in the world around us, yet it is hard for one to put it to words when attempting. It has produced the wondrous and often weird works of Edgar Allen Poe and Flannery O’Connor, the high-minded, civilised solemnities of Augusta Evans Wilson, and the ponderous, poetic passages of Father Abram Ryan and James Ryder Randall. Even the pulp hero Conan the Barbarian finds his roots in the Texan Robert E. Howard.
Lately, however, the world seems to be lacking in Southern content when its need is most pressing. Every day we are inundated with cheap and glitzy Hollywood horrors – a cgi sheen disguising some monstrous and amoral message. Popular literature is largely a wasteland (with the exception of the good folks over at Shotwell Publishing), and it makes one wonder how the tastes of the public could have plummeted so dramatically in the past few decades. Where are the Southern artists and creators? It is they, not any political party, who will first shape the minds and souls of the new generations of the South. It is they who will be carried on in the minds of the people long after that same mind ceases to consider the political polemics in which we necessarily engage.
There are some, like Lewis Liberman at the Abbeville Blog, who recognise the problem and warn accordingly:
To be fair, modern Southerners have certainly made solid attempts to tell great stories about our heroes and history, whether through movies like Copperhead or Gods and Generals. But how such movies resonated with younger and more impressionable audiences might be debatable. Especially when compared with revisionist historical hits like 2012’s Django Unchained, which grossed over $425 million worldwide and featured the story of a man as he violently murdered his way across a predictably “evil” South. Meanwhile, Spielberg’s highly acclaimed Lincoln was much praised for it’s depiction of a “saintly” Abraham Lincoln reigning over nearly a million men, women and children dead – and was nominated for 12 Academy Awards. And while the 2012 flick Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter may not have been well-funded or carefully crafted propaganda of the prior two movies, it still grossed around $115 million domestically and worldwide, and was probably best known for a portrayal of Lincoln once again saving the blessed Union…except this time from a monstrous and blood-thirsty South.
And we wonder why some people are tearing down our veterans monuments, and ironically censoring the beautiful art it represents.
It seems we’ve ceded the favourable ground to the enemy and devoted much of our Southern content to cultivating questionable mudflaps. We need heroes and examples. We need stories.
One recent and ongoing attempt is from the creator ElectricDinosaur. This particular creator has made a Southern superhero, Rebel Yell, complete with a Confederate-flag costume. It’s a comic book aimed at Southerners. The creator attempted to get the project funded through the Kickstarter crowdfunding site, but was met with only ill-will. He relates an email he received from the Kickstarter “Integrity” Team banning his work:
The fact that they deride ElectricDinosaur for “fail[ing] to meet Kickstarter’s spirit of inclusivity” while banning him for merely showing a flag is both laughable and worrying. You can support ElectricDinosaur’s attempts to get the first issue printed by buying a copy at Freestartr.
There are creators out there. They just need our support. As Liberman concludes:
Hollywood and other leftists have the aesthetic, but their content is usually garbage. Anyone seeking to communicate truth to a large audience needs to have both. And there really is no excuse, because we have the truth – as well as a LOT of talented people in our community. Southern musicians, artists, graphic designers, videographers, photographers, sculptors, game developers, poets, entrepreneurs and more are all more than likely ready and able to help out in trying to find ways to strategize and effectively get what’s true and valuable into our communities, and maybe even the world. So let’s network, roll up our sleeves and get to work!
Perhaps no plot of soil and brick is more iconic to the War than that situated in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. Ft Sumter, the guardian of the Carolinas, was a pivotal point of defense along the Atlantic coastline and instrumental to protecting the city of Charleston, one of the grandest ports in the Old South. The oft-repeated narrative of the war’s beginning would lead one to believe that the South had, without provocation, fired upon Ft Sumter and the Federal troops therein This would be a mistaken belief.
On the 9th of December, 1860, a delegation from South Carolina met with President Buchanan and secured an agreement from the Federal government not to reinforce the fort. On the 26th of December, the Federal Commander, Major Anderson, relocated his troops from the more disadvantaged Ft Moultrie and secreted them within the mighty Ft Sumter. On the 7th of January, by order of General Winfield Scott, the Federal Star of the West attempted the reinforcement of Ft Sumter with 200 artillerymen. The ship was turned back by a barrage of Carolinian artillery fire. The Federals, however, would not be deterred. Another proposal for reinforcing Ft Sumter was made, but President Buchanan wished to avoid war and smothered it.
With the election of Abraham Lincoln, a man who cooed like a dove but acted like the greatest of war hawks, plans for reinforcing the important fort were once again furthered. He refused to meet with President Jefferson Davis’ peace envoy, but chose the sword over words. On the 9th of March, Lincoln proffered again the reinforcement of FT Sumter. By the 6th of April a new plan was formulated and ordered – Ft Sumter, despite the expectations of the South to the contrary and the certain trouble which entail in committing such an act, would be reinforced. On the 9th of April, learning of something afoot, the Confederate government requested that Major Anderson turn over control of Ft Sumter to the South. Major Anderson agreed that he would do so on the 15th of that month. By the 11th, however, a small war-fleet appeared beyond Charleston’s bay with the intention of reinforcing Ft Sumter. On the 12th, facing both the fleet and the fort, P.G.T. Beauregard, commander of Charleston, alerted Ft Sumter that he would begin bombardment within the hour. The Grand Creole did so, and succeeded in taking the fort.
How are we to interpret Lincoln’s actions? One need look no further than his own words, in communication to the captain of the fleet that attempted the reinforcement of Ft Sumter. Dated the 1st of May, 1861, he says:
“You and I both anticipated that the cause of the country would be advanced by making the attempt to provision Fort-Sumpter, even if it should fail; and it is no small consolation now to feel that our anticipation is justified by the result. Very truly your friend A. LINCOLN”
Much more transpired which indicates the hawkish views of Lincoln. His reinforcement of Ft Pickens in Pensacola, another Ft Sumter of types, his call for troops to invade the Deep South States, and his refusal to entertain any talks of peace all point to his role not as a champion of the Americas, but its despoiler.
Confederate Flag near Mango, Florida
Today, the 2nd of April, is the day the Richmond was evacuated by the South after the strangulating siege of Petersburg. The second Capital of the Confederacy would never be reclaimed by the Southern armies. Likely, after such a loss, some doubted whether the Confederate flag would still fly across the beloved Southland, which had seen so much blood spilt out upon her in its defense.
There is a Confederate Flag still flying, however, far from Richmond and Virginia. If one has ever travelled south to Ft Meyers from Tallahassee, one has undoubtedly seen it – a little bit of defiance to the powers that be, a display of rebellion against the modern plague of cultural despoilers.
The little hopes are what makes a man in his lifetime. Far be it from him to believe himself planned for any great things – it is in the smallest of deeds where he makes his mark in the world. This flag which waves above all, and especially to those often stuck in Tampa traffic, serves as a reminder that this was and is the South. Richmond in our hands or not, she continues to exist.
Three Marys at the Tomb by William-Adolphe Bouguereau
It is fitting that today, the 1st of April, is Easter Day. While the modern man may smirk and deride the faith of his ancestors, others recognise the timeless truths and beauty contained therein. It is the fools of the world who consider adherence to Christ folly – what these same proffer as insanity is, in actuality, the salvation of man.
Also fitting is that Easter will be the day to welcome Confederate Heritage Month. While the world attacks Dixie just as it did Christ, we can take comfort in knowing that truth is not dependent upon numbers. The crowd that a week ago, on Palm Sunday, followed Christ with humility and reverence could not have been expected to turn treasonously upon their King. Similarly, we would not have expected the wholesale abandonment of the South that has been occurring at the hands of her inheritors and inhabitants. On Good Friday, those with little faith would have believed the mission of Christ to be a Lost Cause. But Our Lord gloriously rises, dispelling the dependency which man has upon his own frail person, and witnessing to him that God is capable of all things. With that great matter in mind, let us enter this month firstly in faith to Christ, and secondly in promoting and living our shared Southern identity.
Deo Vindice, Resurgam!
Many events are on the horizon. If readers know of any others, please send them our way.
Confederate Monuments Conference – Charleston, SC – 24th of Feb, 2018
National Confederate Flag Day – Luverne, Alabama – 3rd of March, 2018
Alabama Education Conference – Prattville, Alabama – 17th of March, 2018
Alabama Awakening Catholic Retreat – Birmingham, Alabama – 13-15th of April, 2018
Today is the birthday of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson (b. 1824), a man who, if piety was a rivalry, contested that of Lee himself. He was and remains one of the sharpest characters in Southern history. The Alabama Legislature has, since 1955, given rewards for those students who have, with ability and affinity, written upon the great Stonewall Jackson. The 1,500 – 2,500 word essay entries have a placing of 1st through 3rd, with the highest prise being $3,000. All high school seniors are eligible. Take the opportunity if y’all can, and pass the word to students!
“My religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death.”
If all that could be gleaned from the man was this one sentence relating his trust in Divine Providence, then assuredly we would know him to be great.
