David Prashker's Book Of Days: September 12

1880, 1977

Henry Louis Mencken, H.L to his followers, US critic, born today in 1880, a man I only discovered when I spent a year in his hometown, Baltimore in Maryland, in 2012 and 2013; but oh how I wish I had known about him younger. Famously the birthplace of Edgar Allan Poe (click here for my piece about him in Private Collection), it transpired the town had produced two men of literary genius, and I could not resist noting in my diary, when a most unlikely candidate for the US Presidency began to bully his rivals and abuse his critics, Mencken's prediction that:

"On some great and glorious day the plain folks of this land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."

Who could imagine that such an appalling prophecy would actually come true! And then, after kicking him out, putting him back in again for a second round.

I will be quoting his essay on Schopenhauer on my page for tomorrow, September 13, but why not a few more of his comments and observations here:

"Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under"

which provides the perfect follow-up to the previous quote.

"A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin."

And written separately, though they belong together:

"An idealist is one who, noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup."

These two probably belong together as well:

"Any man who afflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood."

"Criticism is prejudice made plausible"

Amber pages

Alfred A Knopf, publisher, born today in 1892

James Cleveland ("Jesse") Owens, US olympic athlete, born today in 1913

Elizabeth Moulton-Barrett and Robert Browning, English poets, secretly married, today in 1846

Peter Mark Roget, English physician and author of the thesaurus that bears his synonym, died, today in 1869. I would like (prefer, be more partial to, favour, tend towards) not to include this here, as it his death date, but then I wouldn't be able to point out (note, observe, hypothesise, speculate) that he didn't actually die, he simply "became a euphemism".

Germany annexed the Sudetenland, today in 1938

Lij Tafari Makonnen - “Haile Selassie” - Emperor of Ethiopia and founding deity of Rastafarianism, deposed today in 1974

And one name to add, its font of necessity black because that was the colour of his consciousness, but red-lighted for all time, beaten so badly by the agents of BOSS that he would die just six days later, today indeed, and for the very crime described by Mencken in the second of my illustrations, above; what follows is simply my diary entry for this date in 2002:

Bantu Steve Biko, a man I always associate with Donald Woods, because really I knew nothing about him, or at least appreciated nothing about him, until I came to know Donald in the 1980s, and then saw Richard Attenborough's "Cry Freedom", based on Donald's book. After that amazing escape, Donald went to the Commonwealth Institute for help, and it was my soon-to-be-wife Debbie who organised his national tours, talking to any audience who would listen about apartheid in general, and Biko in particular. One of those audiences was the students at Lancaster University, where I was Vice-President i/c International Affairs during my MA year, and arranged with Debbie to bring him. Wendy, his wife, came too, adding a fourth side to the square of that friendship which continued until the régime collapsed and they were able at last to go home. Though Donald always played himself down, arguing that a middle class white man’s heroics could never be compared with a Bantu’s; but heroism is heroism, and Biko would likely have been forgotten without him.
As to the events themselves. Biko was the founder of the Black Consciousness Movement, and therefore an object of intense hatred to white South Africans, especially thr ruling Afrikaaners. Arrested at a road-block on September 6th, he suffered severe beatings while being driven from one prison to another over the next ten days, and died as a consequence, today, September 12th 1977. Suicide was claimed, but of course they knew who their prisoner was, and no one was higher on their wanted list. Nonetheless, no one can be charged for suicide!

Addendum, October 7th 2003: S African Justice Ministry officials today announced that the five policemen accused, by Bonald in his book and by others, of killing Biko, will not be prosecuted, for lack of evidence, lack of witnesses, and because the time-frame for a prosecution has expired.