why wasn’t Ida B. Wells-Barnett embraced by Susan B. Anthony and the other white count partners in the women’s suffrage movement? And why did they have to protest separately, if they were marching for the same cause?

photo by: http://www.idabwells.org/

The women’s suffrage movement has been part of the American history for centuries. Many people tend to believe that African American women didn’t contribute to the women suffrage movement in the United States. This is far from the truth. According to the National Women’s History Museum, article called “African Women and Suffrage”: many African American women were highly active in the woman suffrage movement and they were supports of women’s rights. Today, the question that comes to many of today’s African American women is: Even though Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a great support for the women suffrage movement which involved Susan B. Anthony, then why wasn’t Ida B. Wells-Barnett embraced by Susan B. Anthony and the other white count partners in women’s suffrage movement? And why did they have to protest separately, if they were marching for the same cause?

The African Women and Suffrage Movement   article went on to state that for centuries African American women have in fact been a part of the movement from the very start—right  along with Caucasian women. Pioneers such as  Sojourner Truth,  Ida Bell Wells-Barnett, Mary Eliza Church Terrell, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, Nannie Helen Burroughs, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Daisy Elizabeth Adams Lampkin. Many Historians have reported that in the 1880s and 1890s, African American alongside their white counterparts, began to form woman’s clubs. These clubs included the women suffrage as part of their programs. Out of these clubs came the: The National Association of Colored Women (NACW), founded by Wells-Barnett. The National Baptist Woman’s Convention, and in 1913 Wells-Barnett founded the first African American women club called the Alpha Suffrage Club of Chicago. She also established several notable women’s organizations such as The National Afro-American Council. Wells also formed the Women’s Era Club, the first civic organization for African-American women. This later was named the Ida B. Wells Club, in honor of its founder.

The article also made mentioned to the fact that even though black women supported and help the

National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), they were often discriminated against and told that they could not join each other clubs for the cause, it had to be black and white women separated all the way down the line. In that same year in a demonstration that took place in Washington D.C., both white women and black women were also told that they had to march separately. The Caucasian women would march in front while the African American women would march from behind. To Ida this was nonsense. I could really see her point of view. If I were invited by the NAWSA to come an participate in this huge protest and I had come from a long distance to get there and then when I arrive, I’m told to step to back. Is this not a Jim Crow law that was taking place right there in Washington D.C. not Birmingham, Alabama?  I would be upset also. I too would make a stand at this point. And that is exactly what she did.

http://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/rightsforwomen/AfricanAmericanwomen.html

During my investigation, I came across two YouTube videos that demonstrate why Well-Barnett became involved with the women’s suffrage movement. I truly hope that these documentaries will shed light on the women who influence such a historical moment in history in which women of both colors are fighting for their right to vote in the United Sates. The first video is called Ida B Wells- Women’s rights:   

The second one is: Women Suffrage Documentary:

I also found this interesting article called: “Ida Wells-Barnett confronts race and gender discrimination.” This article describes what to place when the women’s suffrage crusade paraded on Washington in 1913 in which Ida did an act that stun both white and black women and society in general at this period of time frame. She actually came out of nowhere to the front of the line and began marching with two Caucasian women. This was her Kodak moment.

http://www.lib.niu.edu/1996/iht319630.html

Furthermore, I have stumbled across many articles on African American women and the female suffrage movement, however, none of those articles showed evidence showing where both black and white women walked side by side during a demonstration. Then, I finally, found a website that showed a one picture of two African American Women and several Caucasian women marching together in New York City. This picture actually made me confused, because I was led to believe, by the many articles I had read on many websites that pointed out that black women and white women did not rally together during the suffrage crusade. Is this not a contradiction somewhere in our history?

http://www.history.com/topics/women-who-fought-for-the-vote/photos#

Alas! During my research on Ida Well-Barnett and the African America women’s suffrage movement, I was looking for proof that would support the claim that the suffrage movement was not created equally among the two sets of women who were both fighting for the rights of women to vote. There was Ida B. Wells-Barnett on one side of coin and then we had Susan B. Anthony on the other side. She was once quoted as saying, “I will cut off this right arm of mine before I will ever work or demand the ballot for the Negro and not the woman.”

http://www.wesleyan.edu/mlk/posters/suffrage.html

If what Susan B. Anthony said is true, then she truly did not embrace her fellow African American support which would have included Ida B. Wells-Barnett. It was noted that they were friends and respected each other. With all that being said , Ida had been featured in dozens of local and national newspapers and magazines, and someday, she  would s leave behind a legacy, she was never accepted by Caucasian women in the north or south, she was just another black woman who fought for the right to vote.

Most Historians have document in several sources that in 1920 both white and black women in the United States won the right to vote, however it wasn’t until 1960, that African Women could truly vote.  But This time around African American woman had a great voice thanks to Ida B. Wells and other African American’s that have paved the way.

Could Mark Twain been right about preachers?

http://fmojoey.blogspot.com/

It has often been said that Mark Twain frequently made fun of preachers or their sermons. He also made negative comments about them in his book called “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Here is a famous quote from this book about preachers: He was a preacher, too… and never charged nothing for his preaching, and it was worth it, too.”

http://www.richardsnotes.org/archives/2010/04/12/mark-twain-quotations/

In his book, he eludes to the fact that they are impostors or con men claiming to be preachers. According to the Olympia Brown Unitarian Universalist Church, Mark Twain once said:

I once heard a preacher who was powerful good. I decided to give him every cent I had with me. But he kept it too long. Ten minutes later I decided to keep the bills and five him my loose change. Another ten minutes and I was darned if I’d give him anything at all. Then, when he finally stopped, and the plate came around, I was so exhausted, it all goes to show how a little thing like this can lead to a crime.

http://www.obuuc.org/pdfs/sermon_ever_the_twain.pdf

Is there a possibility that he could have been right? If one looks back over history with today’s leading preachers, also known as pastors, there have been many scandals involving society’s so-called preachers. These preachers or pastors have done everything from money laundering to unforgettable sex scandals that have rocked today’s church. Can anyone remember these so called preachers in the 70’s, 80,’ 90s’, and 2000s? Now let’s fast-forward it to 2013.

Over the years many pastors with mega churches have also gained our attention through TV and other means of mass communication in which point to the fact that mega-church pastors have been or are currently being investigated by the IRS. There are allegations of several pastors in the United States owning very expensive luxury cars, homes, boats and private jets. As I was searching the Internet for sources that would verify what has been document for the public evidence, in which I came across one such article called: “Senator Probes Megachurches’ Finances”: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16860611

Could once again Mark Twain theory be right?  Today, a great number of pastors are using their title and congregation to live out extravagant lifestyles at the expense of others. As I was watching a premiere of a new reality show called; “Preachers of LA” the show is going to air in October. The shows clips were tiny glimpse of what is in store for season. I decided to see what other bloggers on You Tube were  saying about the new show based on pimps, I mean pastors, who are rich and famous: here is one the of clips from YouTube. One is called “Real Millionaire Preachers of LA [Pastors Living Lavishly]”

Come take a walk with me down memory lane to the year 1970 when Jim Jones, the leader and founder of Peoples Temple, lead over 900 hundred innocent men, women and children to their death. Now let’s look at the 80’s, in which the famous televangelist Jim Baker was involved with a scandal of funds from his televised ministry and reportedly raped his young secretary. With his fall from grace, he ended up settling out of court with his secretary; however, when it came to the charge of stealing millions of dollars from the Christian community, he wasn’t so lucky. In fact, he ended up doing the sentence of four years in a federal prison.

 Many people would like to know what Jim Baker has been doing since he has been released from prison. According to an article called, “Disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker now selling ENEMA KITS and apocalyptic survivalist gear to his followers to help make up money he owes to the IRS” (Daily Mail), it would seem like nothing has changed with him very much over the years. I’ll take that back, with his current wife, we don’t all see a boat-load of makeup on her  face. I have to mention this; it seems Tammy Faye Baker has a twin running around by the name of Jan Crouch. She is the co-founder of Trinity Broadcasting Network. I read an article which stated that the owners of Trinity Broad casting Network, Paul and Jan Crouch were having major problems. The author Steve Stang in his article stated: “Why Paul and Jan Crouch Can’t Escape Accountability” http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/38695-why-paul-and-jan-crouch-cant-escape-accountability

Trinity Broadcasting Network again has been in the new with allegations of a scandal. Take a look at this YouTube video called: BN | TBN SCANDAL | TBN EXPOSED | Trinity Broadcasting Network

Does the name Jimmy Swaggart sound familiar?  A large number of people probably wouldn’t recall his name, but for the ones who do, let’s enlighten those that do not know of him. He was involved with an IRS scandal, several lawsuits and in 1988, the televangelist preacher was said to have been in a sex scandal with a prostitute. I found this in an article on the internet that was featured in People Magazine back in 1988 (People Magazine: http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20098413,00.html). Jim Swaggart’s most famous words on national television can be seen on this video: http://www.youtube.com/embed/pCpeeaIfF9c

His famous words were: “I have sinned.” The sad part is that the prostitute said that even though she saw him on a regular basis they never did actually sleep together—they only talked while he was looking at her breast: I found two website to support her claim :Warning!!! Contain graphic picture: http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1988/Former-Prostitute-Returns-Home-After-Swaggart-Saga/id-dd1dc6bdf68b4dac44a027b2953ae756:

http://maggiemcneill.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/none-of-your-business/

Another sad thing, that later came out in 1991, was that he was pulled over by police after he was seen picking up yet another known prostitute. I found two very interesting website that confirms this allegation toward Swaggart. The two web links are: http://www.spiritwatch.org/fireswag1.htm  and http://articles.philly.com/keyword/jimmy-swaggart

Could he have been picking her up to counsel her about being a street walker?  Apparently no one was buying it either.

In 1998 there was an article written by Randall Balmer in which the author described what Jimmy Swaggert had to said ten years later, the article is called “Still Wrestling with the Devil: A visit with Jimmy Swaggart ten years after his fall.” To view these articles go to http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/1998/march2/8t3030.html

I wonder what Jimmy Swagger is doing now since he has been dethroned from his own pulpit. Take a look at what he has been up to on YouTube for this year: Frances and Friends with guest Jimmy Swaggart 2/26/2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCXdG52PlWI

It would seem that Jimmy Swaggart isn’t the only preacher or pastor that has been involved in sex scandals according to numerous media and internet websites there are plenty of former or current pastors out there at the present time. Nowadays, we have read about a pastor that has been involved with a woman or a series of women or men.

Here are a few of websites that I have decided to share with you:

4 Pastors at Virginia’s ROC Megachurch Resign Amid Swirling Sexual Assault Allegations: http://www.christianpost.com/news/4-pastors-at-virginias-roc-megachurch-resign-amid-swirling-sexual-assault-allegations-97444/

Dirty Dozen: 12 Biggest Christian Evangelist Sex Scandals of 21st Century:  http://www.justprove.it/blog/12-biggest-christian-evangelist-sex-scandals/

Bishop Eddie Long marched with hundreds on Peach Tree Street in downtown Atlanta, GA, announcing that they were taking back their Sodom-and-Gomorrah city from all forms of homosexuality, in the name of Jesus Christ. It wasn’t too long after that incident, that four young men came forward and told all of Atlanta and the world that they had slept with their beloved pastor when they were teenagers. I would like to share with video clip made by ABC in conjunction with the allegations against Bishop Eddie Long One is titled “Anti-Homosexuality Pastor Faces Accusations of Sexual Misconduct”:http://abcnews.go.com/US/bishop-eddie-long-accused-sex-abuse-fourth-alleged/story?id=11721548

As I continued to do my research on Bishop Eddie Long I also came across another video clip which involved more information about his sex scandal charges with men, only this time this YouTube video showed two of his male victims—take a look at what they had to say about their former pastor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Orn2Pc-dn_8

As an African American Christian it deeply hurts me to see so many African American preachers or pastors who are engrossed in such misconduct, that it tends to make other good pastors look equally as bad who are innocent of any wrongdoing. Today, our fallen black preachers are now placed in newspapers and their faces are plastered all over the internet. Their name and reputation destroyed. I ran across several website that eluded to this fact. One article title “5 ‘God Soldiers’ Who Fell From Grace” at:

http://newsone.com/2040828/black-pastors-scandal/

It took me by storm when a female pastor that I look up to confessed that she had slept with women in her past. Pastor Juanita Bynum said that was in her past. Take a look at her public confession at http://www.pittsburghurbanmedia.com/Pastor-Juanita-Bynum-Says-That-She-Has-Slept-with-Women/

However, in the African American community, her confession drew media spotlight to the fact that maybe she is bisexual. Some critics even said she never liked men in the first place. This is the type of drama that comes with being a preacher in today’s society. The question that come to my mind and perhaps other Christians would like to know, if theses pastors can be restored after so devastation in their lives. My nephew has a tattoo on his arm that says, “Only God Can Judge Me.” We as a society especially those of us that are Christian say that we are willing to forgive, but we never can seem to forget.

Why Did Several Poems Written by Walt Whitman Have Homosexual Themes If He Was Not Gay? (Redone)

 

http://rictornorton.co.uk/whitman.htm (photo)

 

Most scholars have debated over the years about Walt Whitman’s sexual orientation. Many have called him the greatest gay free verse writer of all time.  Historians have said over and over that Walt Whitman wrote about male lovers in many of his poems and that many of the poems indicated a timeless romantic relationship with men throughout his career.  Due to his controversial sexuality, in a great number of his poems he is often believed to have been gay, based on interpretation of his poetry.

According to the author Alan Helms who wrote an article called “Whitman’s “Live Oak with Moss” stated the fowling information: Almost forty years ago, while working on Whitman’s manuscripts for the third edition of Leaves of Grass, Fredson Bowers discovered that twelve of the poems had originally formed a sequence entitled “Live Oak with Moss,” which tells the story of Whitman’s unhappy love affair with a man. The author Helms declared that Walt Whitman “in his past works of poetry have include the topic of same sex involvement. According to Alan Helms, “Live Oak with Moss”, is indeed a story about Walt Whitman’s love affair with a man who he is very fond of, but yet his lover ends up abandoning him. However, critics have not taken upon themselves to explore this documentation further.

Furthermore, the author Helms noted that throughout Whitman’s 45 poems which include “Live Oak”   are written  in a manner that is suggestive to the fact that he includes a great deal of poems based on his sexuality.

http://www.whitmanarchive.org/criticism/current/anc.00154.html          

Throughout his poetry, Whitman wrote themes about the Civil war, politics, slavery, patriotism, but he also wrote about themes pertaining to his love affairs, heartbreak and his experience with men. It has also been noted throughout history that Oscar Wilder’s famous recollection of Walt Whitman was when Walt kissed him; he stated: “The kiss of Walt Whitman is still on my lips.”According to the author Rictor Norton, in 1925, it had been discovered that the original hand-written manuscript of the poem called “Once I Pass’d Through A Populous City” in which Whitman had reversed the sex of the man to a woman in order for it to look presentable to the public. The original poem stated the following:

Once I Pass’d Through A Populous City

Once I pass’d through a populous city imprinting my brain
for future use with its shows, architecture, customs,

tradition,

Yet now of all that city I remember only a man I casually

met there who detained me for love of me,

Day by day and night by night we were together — all else

has long been forgotten by me,

I remember I saw only that man who passionately clung to

me,

Again we wander, we love, we separate again,

Again he holds me by the hand, I must not go,

see him close beside me with silent lips sad and

tremulous.

The author Norton stated that the original poem perhaps is Whitman first homosexual experience in which he did not fully understand the implications of him being with a man. Needless to say, the writer goes on to give an account of Whitman coming out in a confessional poem in which Walt Whitman stated:

I share the midnight orgies of young men . . .
I pick out some low person for my dearest friend,
He shall be lawless, rude, illiterate, he shall be condemned by others for deeds done,
I will play a part no longer, why should I exile myself from my companions?

Furthermore, the writer Rictor Norton noted that Whitman also wrote notebooks about his sexual encounters with men from different ages and backgrounds the notebook listed stated the following information:

Whitman’s notebooks of this period are filled with at least 150 such entries and  descriptions of bus drivers, ferry-boat men, and other “rude, illiterate” men that he met — picked up is really the only accurate word for it — in the streets of Manhattan, and “slept with,” often keeping notes of their home addresses. Excerpts from his Notebooks have been collected in Charley Shively’s Calamus Lovers: Walt Whitman’s Working Class Camerados (Gay Sunshine Press, 1987):

• Peter — large, strong-boned young fellow, driver. . . . I liked his refreshing wickedness, as it would be called by the orthodox.
• George Fitch — Yankee boy — Driver . . . Good looking, tall, curly haired, black-eyed fellow
• Saturday night Mike Ellis — wandering at the corner of Lexington av. & 32d st. — took him home to 150 37th street, — 4th story back room — bitter cold night
• Wm Culver, boy in bath, aged 18
• Dan’l Spencer . . . somewhat feminine . . . slept with me Sept 3d
• Theodore M Carr — came to the house with me
• James Sloan (night of Sept 18 ’62) 23rd year of age — plain homely, American
• John McNelly night Oct 7 young man, drunk, walk’d up Fulton& High st. home
• David Wilson — night of Oct. 11 ’62, walking up from Middagh — slept with me
• Horace Ostrander Oct. 22 ’62 — about 28 yr’s of age — slept with him Dec 4th ’62
• October 9, 1863, Jerry Taylor, (NJ.) of 2d dist reg’t slept with me last night weather soft, cool enough, warm enough, heavenly.

The author Rictor Norton also make references to the fact that Walt Whitman in 1866 met Peter Doyle, a nineteen-year-old bus conductor in Washington D.C. Peter Doyle stated the following words: “We were familiar at once — I put my hand on his knee — we understood.” It was this statement that has critics arguing over what Whitman really meant. In addition to this statement, Norton noted that Doyle was also quoted as saying:

I never knew a case of Walt’s being bothered up by a woman. In fact, he had nothing special to do with any woman except Mrs. O’Connor and Mrs. Burroughs [his landlady and housekeeper]. His disposition was different. Woman in that sense never came into his head. Walt was too clean; he hated anything which was not clean. No trace of any kind of dissipation in him. I ought to know about him those years — we were awful close together.

http://rictornorton.co.uk/whitman.htm

If what Peter Doyle has said is true, then the rumor of Walt Whitman having 6 legitimate children would be false.  In my research, I have not come across an article that specifically eluded to the fact that he was ever romantically involved with a woman. It has not proven to be a fact. I have read many articles that pointed out that Walt Whitman kissed and went to bed with several men throughout his lifetime. Some report that he did not try to hide the fact that he was gay, while others state that he was afraid to come out of the closet. I do believe that Walt Whitman was in fact gay, however, you must consider the time frame of the nineteenth century in which homosexuality was viewed as being a taboo and the consequence of a man publicly acknowledging in the open that he is gay was not heard of in that timeframe, as it is in today’s world. In essence, the nineteenth century prevented him from telling the world that the great American poet was in fact gay, and perhaps by incorporating homosexuality into his poetry was the only way he could express himself. 

As I was finishing my research, I came across two more poems in which I also found two video clips called: “We Two Boys Together” and “When I Heard at the Close of the Day”.  The videos are on YouTube and I thought you might enjoy them, so they are hyperlinked in this blog.

 

 WE TWO BOYS TOGETHER CLINGING

We two boys together clinging

One the other never leaving
Up and down the roads going, North and South excursions making,
Power enjoying, elbows stretching, fingers clutching,
Arm’d and fearless, eating, drinking, sleeping, loving,
No law less than ourselves owning, sailing, soldiering, thieving, threatening,
Misers, menials, priests alarming, air breathing, water drinking, on the turf or the sea-beach

dancing,
Cities wrenching, ease scorning, statutes mocking, feebleness chasing,

Fulfilling our foray.
Video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JNWADyTZDg

 

When I heard at the Close of the Day When I heard at the close of the day how I had been praised in the Capitol, still it was not a happy night for me that followed, And else when I caroused – nor when my favorite plans were accomplished – was I really happy, But the day when I arose at dawn from the perfect health, electric, inhaling sweet breath When I saw the full moon in the west grow pale and disappear in the morning light, When I wandered alone over the beach, and undressing, bathed, laughing with the waters, and saw the sun rise, And when I thought how my friend, my lover, was on his way coming, then O I was happy, Each breath tasted sweeter – and all that day my food nourished me more – and the beautiful day passed well, And the next came with equal joy – and with the next, at evening, came my friend, And that night while all was still I heard the waters roll slowly continually up the shores, I heard the hissing rustle of the liquid and sands, as directed to me, whispering to congratulate me, For the friend I love lay sleeping by my side, In the stillness his face was inclined toward me, while the moon’s clear beams shone And his arm lay lightly over my breast – and that night I was happy.
Video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3vHZ56xqHg

With all the information that I have gathered in my research, this has led me to believe that America’s beloved poet was, in fact, gay.

Why did several poems written by Walt Whitman have homosexual themes if he was not gay?

 

Most scholars have debated over the years about Walt Whitman sexual orientation calling him the great gay free verse writer of all time. It said has over and over that Walt Whitman in many of his poems that he had wrote were about his male lovers in which his poems indicated a timeless romantic relationship with men throughout his career.  Due to his controversial sexuality in a great number of his poems he is often believed to have been gay, based on interpretation of his poetry.

According to the author Alan Helms how wrote an article called “Whitman’s “Live Oak with Moss” stated the fowling information: Almost forty years ago, while working on Whitman’s manuscripts for the third edition of Leaves of Grass, Fredson Bowers discovered that twelve of the poems had originally formed a sequence entitled “Live Oak with Moss,” which tells the story of Whitman’s unhappy love affair with a man. The author Helms declared that Walt Whitman “in his past works of poetry have include the topic of same sex involvement. According to Alan Helms, “Live Oak with Moss”, is indeed a story about Walt Whitman’s love affair with a man who he is very fond of, but yet his lover ends up abandoning him. However, critics have not taken upon themselves to explore this documentation further.

Furthermore, the author Helms noted that throughout Whitman’s 45 poems which include “Live Oak”   are written  in a manner that is suggestive to the fact that he includes a great deal of poems based on his sexuality.

Throughout his poetry, Whitman wrote about his love affairs, heartbreak and his experience with men. It has also been noted throughout history that Oscar Wilder’s famous recollection of Walt Whitman was when Walt kissed him; he stated: “The kiss of Walt Whitman is still on my lips.”According to the author Rictor Norton in 1925 it had been discovered that the original hand-written manuscript of the poem called “Once I Pass’d Through A Populous City” in which Whitman had reversed the sex of the man to a woman in order for it to look presentable to the public. The original poem stated the following:

Once I Pass’d Through A Populous City

Once I pass’d through a populous city imprinting my brain
for future use with its shows, architecture, customs,

tradition,

Yet now of all that city I remember only a man I casually

met there who detained me for love of me,

Day by day and night by night we were together — all else

has long been forgotten by me,

I remember I saw only that man who passionately clung to

me,

Again we wander, we love, we separate again,

Again he holds me by the hand, I must not go,

see him close beside me with silent lips sad and

tremulous.

The author Norton stated that the original poem perhaps is Whitman first homosexual experience in which he did not fully understand the implications of him being with a man. Needless to say, the writer goes on to give an account of Whitman coming out confessional poem in which Walt Whitman stated:

I share the midnight orgies of young men . . .
I pick out some low person for my dearest friend,
He shal be lawless, rude, illiterate, he shall be condemned by others for deeds done,
I will play a part no longer, why should I exile myself from my companions?

Furthermore the writer Rictor Norton noted that Whitman also wrote notebooks about his sexual encounters with men from different ages and background the notebook listed stated the following information:

Whitman’s notebooks of this period are filled with at least 150 such entries and  descriptions of bus drivers, ferry-boat men, and other “rude, illiterate” men that he met — picked up is really the only accurate word for it — in the streets of Manhattan, and “slept with,” often keeping notes of their home addresses. Excerpts from his Notebooks have been collected in Charley Shively’s Calamus Lovers: Walt Whitman’s Working Class Camerados (Gay Sunshine Press, 1987):

• Peter — large, strong-boned young fellow, driver. . . . I liked his refreshing wickedness, as it would be called by the orthodox.
• George Fitch — Yankee boy — Driver . . . Good looking, tall, curly haired, black-eyed fellow
• Saturday night Mike Ellis — wandering at the corner of Lexington av. & 32d st. — took him home to 150 37th street, — 4th story back room — bitter cold night
• Wm Culver, boy in bath, aged 18
• Dan’l Spencer . . . somewhat feminine . . . slept with me Sept 3d
• Theodore M Carr — came to the house with me
• James Sloan (night of Sept 18 ’62) 23rd year of age — plain homely, American
• John McNelly night Oct 7 young man, drunk, walk’d up Fulton& High st. home
• David Wilson — night of Oct. 11 ’62, walking up from Middagh — slept with me
• Horace Ostrander Oct. 22 ’62 — about 28 yr’s of age — slept with him Dec 4th ’62
• October 9, 1863, Jerry Taylor, (NJ.) of 2d dist reg’t slept with me last night weather soft, cool enough, warm enough, heavenly.

The author Rictor Norton also make references to the fact that Walt Whitman in 1866 met Peter Doyle, a nineteen year old bus conductor in Washington D.C. Peter Doyle stated the following words “We were familiar at once — I put my hand on his knee — we understood.” It was this statement that has critics arguing over what this statement really meant. In addition to this statement, Norton noted that Doyle was also quoted as saying:

I never knew a case of Walt’s being bothered up by a woman. In fact, he had nothing special to do with any woman except Mrs. O’Connor and Mrs. Burroughs [his landlady and housekeeper]. His disposition was different. Woman in that sense never came into his head. Walt was too clean; he hated anything which was not clean. No trace of any kind of dissipation in him. I ought to know about him those years — we were awful close together.

If what Peter Doyle has said is to be true than the rumor of him having 6 legitimate children would be false.  In my research, I have not come across an article that pacifically eluded to the fact that he was ever romantically involved with a woman. It has not proven to be a fact. I have read many articles that pointed out the fact that Walt Whitman kissed and went to bed with several men throughout his lifetime. Some report that he did not try to hide the fact that he was gay, while other stated that he was afraid to come out of the closet. I do believe that Walt Whitman was in fact gay, however, if you consider the time frame of the nineteenth century in which homosexuality was viewed as being a taboo and the consequence of a man that would  publicly acknowledging  in the open that he is gay was not heard of in that timeframe as it is today’s world. In essence, the nineteenth century prevented him from telling the world that the great poet was in fact gay, and perhaps by incorporating it into his poetry was the only way to express himself.

As I was finishing my research I came across more of his poems which led me to believe that he was in fact America’s beloved gay poet. They include the following poems:

 

WE TWO BOYS TOGETHER CLINGING

We two boys together clinging

One the other never leaving
Up and down the roads going, North and South excursions making,
Power enjoying, elbows stretching, fingers clutching,
Arm’d and fearless, eating, drinking, sleeping, loving,
No law less than ourselves owning, sailing, soldiering, thieving, threatening,
Misers, menials, priests alarming, air breathing, water drinking, on the turf or the sea-beach

dancing,
Cities wrenching, ease scorning, statutes mocking, feebleness chasing,

Fulfilling our foray.

Calamus

When I heard at the close of the day how my name had been
receiv’d with plaudits in the capitol, still it was not a happy
night for me that follow’d,
And else when I carous’d, or when my plans were accomplish’d,
still I was not happy,
But the day when I rose at dawn from the bed of perfect
health, refresh’d, singing, inhaling the ripe breath of
autumn,
When I saw the full moon in the west grow pale and disappear
in the morning light,
When I wander’d alone over the beach, and undressing bathed,
laughing with the cool waters, and saw the sun rise,
And when I thought how my dear friend my lover was on his
way coming, O then I was happy,
O then each breath tasted sweeter, and all that day my food
nourish’d me more, and the beautiful day pass’d well,
And the next came with equal joy, and with the next at evening
came my friend,
And that night while all was still I heard the waters roll slowly
continually up the shores,
I heard the hissing rustle of the liquid and sands as directed to
me whispering to congratulate me,
For the one I love most lay sleeping by me under the same
cover in the cool night,
In the stillness in the autumn moonbeams his face was inclined
toward me,
And his arm lay lightly around my breast – and that night
I was happy.

When I heard at the Close of the Day When I heard at the close of the day how I had been praised in the Capitol, still it was not a happy night for me that followed, And else when I caroused – nor when my favorite plans were accomplished – was I really happy, But the day when I arose at dawn from the perfect health, electric, inhaling sweet breath When I saw the full moon in the west grow pale and disappear in the morning light, When I wandered alone over the beach, and undressing, bathed, laughing with the waters, and saw the sun rise, And when I thought how my friend, my lover, was on his way coming, then O I was happy, Each breath tasted sweeter – and all that day my food nourished me more – and the beautiful day passed well, And the next came with equal joy – and with the next, at evening, came my friend, And that night while all was still I heard the waters roll slowly continually up the shores, I heard the hissing rustle of the liquid and sands, as directed to me, whispering to congratulate me, For the friend I love lay sleeping by my side, In the stillness his face was inclined toward me, while the moon’s clear beams shone And his arm lay lightly over my breast – and that night I was happy.

 

 

Resources:

http://www.whitmanarchive.org/criticism/current/anc.00154.html                                              

http://rictornorton.co.uk/whitman.htm

http://rictornorton.co.uk/whitman.htm (photo).

 

 

Why did several poems written by Walt Whitman have homosexual themes if he was not gay?

 

 

Most scholars have debated over the years about Walt Whitman sexual orientation calling him the great gay free verse writer of all time. It said has over and over that Walt Whitman in many of his poems that he had wrote were about his male lovers in which his poems indicated a timeless romantic relationship with men throughout his career.  Due to his controversial sexuality in a great number of his poems he is often believed to have been gay, based on interpretation of his poetry.

According to the author Alan Helms how wrote an article called “Whitman’s “Live Oak with Moss” stated the fowling information: Almost forty years ago, while working on Whitman’s manuscripts for the third edition of Leaves of Grass, Fredson Bowers discovered that twelve of the poems had originally formed a sequence entitled “Live Oak with Moss,” which tells the story of Whitman’s unhappy love affair with a man. The author Helms declared that Walt Whitman “in his past works of poetry have include the topic of same sex involvement. According to Alan Helms, “Live Oak with Moss”, is indeed a story about Walt Whitman’s love affair with a man who he is very fond of, but yet his lover ends up abandoning him. However, critics have not taken upon themselves to explore this documentation further.

Furthermore, the author Helms noted that throughout Whitman’s 45 poems which include “Live Oak”   are written  in a manner that is suggestive to the fact that he includes a great deal of poems based on his sexuality.

Throughout his poetry, Whitman wrote about his love affairs, heartbreak and his experience with men. It has also been noted throughout history that Oscar Wilder’s famous recollection of Walt Whitman was when Walt kissed him; he stated: “The kiss of Walt Whitman is still on my lips.”According to the author Rictor Norton in 1925 it had been discovered that the original hand-written manuscript of the poem called “Once I Pass’d Through A Populous City” in which Whitman had reversed the sex of the man to a woman in order for it to look presentable to the public. The original poem stated the following:

Once I Pass’d Through A Populous City

Once I pass’d through a populous city imprinting my brain
for future use with its shows, architecture, customs,

tradition,

Yet now of all that city I remember only a man I casually

met there who detained me for love of me,

Day by day and night by night we were together — all else

has long been forgotten by me,

I remember I saw only that man who passionately clung to

me,

Again we wander, we love, we separate again,

Again he holds me by the hand, I must not go,

see him close beside me with silent lips sad and

tremulous.

The author Norton stated that the original poem perhaps is Whitman first homosexual experience in which he did not fully understand the implications of him being with a man. Needless to say, the writer goes on to give an account of Whitman coming out confessional poem in which Walt Whitman stated:

I share the midnight orgies of young men . . .
I pick out some low person for my dearest friend,
He shal be lawless, rude, illiterate, he shall be condemned by others for deeds done,
I will play a part no longer, why should I exile myself from my companions?

Furthermore the writer Rictor Norton noted that Whitman also wrote notebooks about his sexual encounters with men from different ages and background the notebook listed stated the following information:

Whitman’s notebooks of this period are filled with at least 150 such entries and  descriptions of bus drivers, ferry-boat men, and other “rude, illiterate” men that he met — picked up is really the only accurate word for it — in the streets of Manhattan, and “slept with,” often keeping notes of their home addresses. Excerpts from his Notebooks have been collected in Charley Shively’s Calamus Lovers: Walt Whitman’s Working Class Camerados (Gay Sunshine Press, 1987):

• Peter — large, strong-boned young fellow, driver. . . . I liked his refreshing wickedness, as it would be called by the orthodox.
• George Fitch — Yankee boy — Driver . . . Good looking, tall, curly haired, black-eyed fellow
• Saturday night Mike Ellis — wandering at the corner of Lexington av. & 32d st. — took him home to 150 37th street, — 4th story back room — bitter cold night
• Wm Culver, boy in bath, aged 18
• Dan’l Spencer . . . somewhat feminine . . . slept with me Sept 3d
• Theodore M Carr — came to the house with me
• James Sloan (night of Sept 18 ’62) 23rd year of age — plain homely, American
• John McNelly night Oct 7 young man, drunk, walk’d up Fulton& High st. home
• David Wilson — night of Oct. 11 ’62, walking up from Middagh — slept with me
• Horace Ostrander Oct. 22 ’62 — about 28 yr’s of age — slept with him Dec 4th ’62
• October 9, 1863, Jerry Taylor, (NJ.) of 2d dist reg’t slept with me last night weather soft, cool enough, warm enough, heavenly.

The author Rictor Norton also make references to the fact that Walt Whitman in 1866 met Peter Doyle, a nineteen year old bus conductor in Washington D.C. Peter Doyle stated the following words “We were familiar at once — I put my hand on his knee — we understood.” It was this statement that has critics arguing over what this statement really meant. In addition to this statement, Norton noted that Doyle was also quoted as saying:

I never knew a case of Walt’s being bothered up by a woman. In fact, he had nothing special to do with any woman except Mrs. O’Connor and Mrs. Burroughs [his landlady and housekeeper]. His disposition was different. Woman in that sense never came into his head. Walt was too clean; he hated anything which was not clean. No trace of any kind of dissipation in him. I ought to know about him those years — we were awful close together.

If what Peter Doyle has said is to be true than the rumor of him having 6 legitimate children would be false.  In my research, I have not come across an article that pacifically eluded to the fact that he was ever romantically involved with a woman. It has not proven to be a fact. I have read many articles that pointed out the fact that Walt Whitman kissed and went to bed with several men throughout his lifetime. Some report that he did not try to hide the fact that he was gay, while other stated that he was afraid to come out of the closet. I do believe that Walt Whitman was in fact gay, however, if you consider the time frame of the nineteenth century in which homosexuality was viewed as being a taboo and the consequence of a man that would  publicly acknowledging  in the open that he is gay was not heard of in that timeframe as it is today’s world. In essence, the nineteenth century prevented him from telling the world that the great poet was in fact gay, and perhaps by incorporating it into his poetry was the only way to express himself.

As I was finishing my research I came across more of his poems which led me to believe that he was in fact America’s beloved gay poet. They include the following poems:

 

 

WE TWO BOYS TOGETHER CLINGING

We two boys together clinging

One the other never leaving
Up and down the roads going, North and South excursions making,
Power enjoying, elbows stretching, fingers clutching,
Arm’d and fearless, eating, drinking, sleeping, loving,
No law less than ourselves owning, sailing, soldiering, thieving, threatening,
Misers, menials, priests alarming, air breathing, water drinking, on the turf or the sea-beach

dancing,
Cities wrenching, ease scorning, statutes mocking, feebleness chasing,

Fulfilling our foray.

Calamus

When I heard at the close of the day how my name had been
receiv’d with plaudits in the capitol, still it was not a happy
night for me that follow’d,
And else when I carous’d, or when my plans were accomplish’d,
still I was not happy,
But the day when I rose at dawn from the bed of perfect
health, refresh’d, singing, inhaling the ripe breath of
autumn,
When I saw the full moon in the west grow pale and disappear
in the morning light,
When I wander’d alone over the beach, and undressing bathed,
laughing with the cool waters, and saw the sun rise,
And when I thought how my dear friend my lover was on his
way coming, O then I was happy,
O then each breath tasted sweeter, and all that day my food
nourish’d me more, and the beautiful day pass’d well,
And the next came with equal joy, and with the next at evening
came my friend,
And that night while all was still I heard the waters roll slowly
continually up the shores,
I heard the hissing rustle of the liquid and sands as directed to
me whispering to congratulate me,
For the one I love most lay sleeping by me under the same
cover in the cool night,
In the stillness in the autumn moonbeams his face was inclined
toward me,
And his arm lay lightly around my breast – and that night
I was happy.

 

When I heard at the Close of the Day When I heard at the close of the day how I had been praised in the Capitol, still it was not a happy night for me that followed, And else when I caroused – nor when my favorite plans were accomplished – was I really happy, But the day when I arose at dawn from the perfect health, electric, inhaling sweet breath When I saw the full moon in the west grow pale and disappear in the morning light, When I wandered alone over the beach, and undressing, bathed, laughing with the waters, and saw the sun rise, And when I thought how my friend, my lover, was on his way coming, then O I was happy, Each breath tasted sweeter – and all that day my food nourished me more – and the beautiful day passed well, And the next came with equal joy – and with the next, at evening, came my friend, And that night while all was still I heard the waters roll slowly continually up the shores, I heard the hissing rustle of the liquid and sands, as directed to me, whispering to congratulate me, For the friend I love lay sleeping by my side, In the stillness his face was inclined toward me, while the moon’s clear beams shone And his arm lay lightly over my breast – and that night I was happy.

 

 

Resources:

http://www.whitmanarchive.org/criticism/current/anc.00154.html                                              

http://rictornorton.co.uk/whitman.htm

http://rictornorton.co.uk/whitman.htm (photo).

 

 

It has been said that throughout Emily Dickinson earlier adolescent life that she wore different clothing styles and then later on in her adult she had begun to wear the color white and had in fact became obsessed with the color white. During her lifetime many people that knew her described her simply as “The woman in white.”

Today, many scholars have debated over why she had chosen to start wearing white dresses and attire. Some make mention that she was buried in white with a white coffin .While others have even debated over the fact that she had chosen to include the color white in her varies poems throughout her writings. According to the author Wesley King who wrote an article called “The White Symbolic of Emily Dickinson,” Dickinson, uses the word “white” in thirty of her various poems—which included a white bridal grown. King in his article he gives his readers a samples of such poetry, one was call “A solemn thing” It states:
A solemn thing – it was – I said –
A Woman – white – to be –
And wear – if God should count me fit –
Her blameless mystery –
A timid thing – to drop a life
Into the mystic well –
Too plummetless – that it come back –
Eternity – until –
I pondered how the bliss would look –
And would it feel as big –
When I could take it in my hand –
As hovering – seen – through fog –
And then – the size of this “small” life –
The Sages – call it small –
Swelled – like Horizons – in my breast –
And I sneered – softly – “small”!
The author King also included another poem that Emily Dickinson had written in reference to the color of white named, “A Spider sewed at Night” It begins:

A Spider sewed at Night
Without a Light
Opon an Arc of White –
If Ruff it was of Dame
Or Shroud of Gnome
Him Of Immortality
His strategy
Was physiognomy -self himself inform –
The author goes on to state that this poem is moreover a perfect example of a usage of rhyme, three stanzas, with each having three lines, which creates an atypical symmetry.

In comparison, the author J. Brooks Bouson wrote an article called “On Emily Dickinson,” In this article the author Bouson described Emily Dickinson as a nineteenth-century rebellious New Englander who was a nonconformist, eccentric reclusive, and a great original American poet who dressed in white. Bouson concluded that Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) is a popular American “iconic figure” that continues into the twenty-first century. The writer adds that the self- secluded Emily Dickenson wrote in one of her well-known poems referring to herself as “A Woman- white -to be-” in poem 307.
Furthermore, Bouson also mentioned that Emily Dickinson being dressed in white could have been interpreted as symbolic act. Perhaps it represented an abandoned bride’s gown. Or maybe it was a sign of a nunlike seclusion. Or maybe her desire to rise above her body and devote herself wholly to her transcendent when she dies. Many scholars claimed that she started to wear all white apparel after her father had passed away as a means of telling death that she was heaven bound and that deaths grip could no longer hold her back. While other critics have stated that she chose to wear white as a symbol of purity. Often times in many countries women who war all white dresses are virgins that wear white in order to let the community in which they live know that they have never been touched by a man. And these women tend to live with their parents until they are married.

To me with her being a female with her own distinctive individuality and being known for her unique collection of poems about love, death, nature, religion and heartbreak, there could have be a number of reasons why she had chosen to wear the color white. Perhaps maybe she wore the color white, because she just likes the color white. I don’t think the critic and scholars have ever thought of that as being the case.
In addition to this information the author J. Brooks Bouson made references to the fact that Dickinson never had any face-to-face contact with any of her visitors; she only spoke them behind screens or closed doors. I find this tidbit of information very fascinating, since I have read several books and various articles about Emily Dickinson. This is the first article that I had come across that said that she only spoke to people in this manner. WOW!!! If this information is in fact true than she would be considered a schizophrenic in the mental health field. Oftentimes people with schizophrenic may withdraw from the outside world. He or she may act out in confusion and be fearful of others in society.

Many Schizophrenic individuals have a hard time of talking to people in the same room. Many tend to walk around the room while you are trying to talk to them, while others will look at objects instead of looking at you. Some Schizophrenic individuals are very leery of people in general. However, I have met the most talented individuals who suffer from Schizophrenia. Many can sing or play instruments. You can see them perform in the subways or on the streets of Chicago. And most of them are in fact homeless today.

How many of you have seen the movie the Soloist in with Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. The movie is based on a true story about a talented homeless musician who suffered from schizophrenia and he has a hard time dealing with people. You’d have to see the movie for yourself, to see how it turns out.

It has been said that throughout Emily Dickinson earlier adolescent life that she wore different clothing styles and then later on in her adult she had begun to wear the color white and had in fact became obsessed with the color white. During her lifetime many people that knew her described her simply as “The woman in white.”

Today, many scholars have debated over why she had chosen to start wearing white dresses and attire. Some make mention that she was buried in white with a white coffin .While others have even debated over the fact that she had chosen to include the color white in her varies poems throughout her writings. According to the author Wesley King who wrote an article called “The White Symbolic of Emily Dickinson,” Dickinson, uses the word “white” in thirty of her various poems—which included a white bridal grown. King in his article he gives his readers a samples of such poetry, one was call “A solemn thing” It states:
A solemn thing – it was – I said –
A Woman – white – to be –
And wear – if God should count me fit –
Her blameless mystery –
A timid thing – to drop a life
Into the mystic well –
Too plummetless – that it come back –
Eternity – until –
I pondered how the bliss would look –
And would it feel as big –
When I could take it in my hand –
As hovering – seen – through fog –
And then – the size of this “small” life –
The Sages – call it small –
Swelled – like Horizons – in my breast –
And I sneered – softly – “small”!
The author King also included another poem that Emily Dickinson had written in reference to the color of white named, “A Spider sewed at Night” It begins:

A Spider sewed at Night
Without a Light
Opon an Arc of White –
If Ruff it was of Dame
Or Shroud of Gnome
Him Of Immortality
His strategy
Was physiognomy -self himself inform –
The author goes on to state that this poem is moreover a perfect example of a usage of rhyme, three stanzas, with each having three lines, which creates an atypical symmetry.

In comparison, the author J. Brooks Bouson wrote an article called “On Emily Dickinson,” In this article the author Bouson described Emily Dickinson as a nineteenth-century rebellious New Englander who was a nonconformist, eccentric reclusive, and a great original American poet who dressed in white. Bouson concluded that Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) is a popular American “iconic figure” that continues into the twenty-first century. The writer adds that the self- secluded Emily Dickenson wrote in one of her well-known poems referring to herself as “A Woman- white -to be-” in poem 307.
Furthermore, Bouson also mentioned that Emily Dickinson being dressed in white could have been interpreted as symbolic act. Perhaps it represented an abandoned bride’s gown. Or maybe it was a sign of a nunlike seclusion. Or maybe her desire to rise above her body and devote herself wholly to her transcendent when she dies. Many scholars claimed that she started to wear all white apparel after her father had passed away as a means of telling death that she was heaven bound and that deaths grip could no longer hold her back. While other critics have stated that she chose to wear white as a symbol of purity. Often times in many countries women who war all white dresses are virgins that wear white in order to let the community in which they live know that they have never been touched by a man. And these women tend to live with their parents until they are married.

To me with her being a female with her own distinctive individuality and being known for her unique collection of poems about love, death, nature, religion and heartbreak, there could have be a number of reasons why she had chosen to wear the color white. Perhaps maybe she wore the color white, because she just likes the color white. I don’t think the critic and scholars have ever thought of that as being the case.
In addition to this information the author J. Brooks Bouson made references to the fact that Dickinson never had any face-to-face contact with any of her visitors; she only spoke them behind screens or closed doors. I find this tidbit of information very fascinating, since I have read several books and various articles about Emily Dickinson. This is the first article that I had come across that said that she only spoke to people in this manner. WOW!!! If this information is in fact true than she would be considered a schizophrenic in the mental health field. Oftentimes people with schizophrenic may withdraw from the outside world. He or she may act out in confusion and be fearful of others in society.

Many Schizophrenic individuals have a hard time of talking to people in the same room. Many tend to walk around the room while you are trying to talk to them, while others will look at objects instead of looking at you. Some Schizophrenic individuals are very leery of people in general. However, I have met the most talented individuals who suffer from Schizophrenia. Many can sing or play instruments. You can see them perform in the subways or on the streets of Chicago. And most of them are in fact homeless today.

How many of you have seen the movie the Soloist in with Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. The movie is based on a true story about a talented homeless musician who suffered from schizophrenia and he has a hard time dealing with people. You’d have to see the movie for yourself, to see how it turns out.

Why would Emily Dickinson be called “The woman in white”?

It has been said that throughout Emily Dickinson earlier adolescent life that she wore different clothing styles and then later on in her adult she had begun to wear the color white and had in fact became obsessed with the color white. During her lifetime many people that knew her described her simply as “The woman in white.”

Today, many scholars have debated over why she had chosen to start wearing white dresses and attire. Some make mention that she was buried in white with a white coffin .While others have even debated over the fact that she had chosen to include the color white in her varies poems throughout her writings. According to the author Wesley King who wrote an article called “The White Symbolic of Emily Dickinson,” Dickinson, uses the word “white” in thirty of her various poems—which included a white bridal grown. King in his article he gives his readers a samples of such poetry, one was call “A solemn thing” It states:
A solemn thing – it was – I said –
A Woman – white – to be –
And wear – if God should count me fit –
Her blameless mystery –
A timid thing – to drop a life
Into the mystic well –
Too plummetless – that it come back –
Eternity – until –
I pondered how the bliss would look –
And would it feel as big –
When I could take it in my hand –
As hovering – seen – through fog –
And then – the size of this “small” life –
The Sages – call it small –
Swelled – like Horizons – in my breast –
And I sneered – softly – “small”!
The author King also included another poem that Emily Dickinson had written in reference to the color of white named, “A Spider sewed at Night” It begins:

A Spider sewed at Night
Without a Light
Opon an Arc of White –
If Ruff it was of Dame
Or Shroud of Gnome
Him Of Immortality
His strategy
Was physiognomy -self himself inform –
The author goes on to state that this poem is moreover a perfect example of a usage of rhyme, three stanzas, with each having three lines, which creates an atypical symmetry.

In comparison, the author J. Brooks Bouson wrote an article called “On Emily Dickinson,” In this article the author Bouson described Emily Dickinson as a nineteenth-century rebellious New Englander who was a nonconformist, eccentric reclusive, and a great original American poet who dressed in white. Bouson concluded that Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) is a popular American “iconic figure” that continues into the twenty-first century. The writer adds that the self- secluded Emily Dickenson wrote in one of her well-known poems referring to herself as “A Woman- white -to be-” in poem 307.
Furthermore, Bouson also mentioned that Emily Dickinson being dressed in white could have been interpreted as symbolic act. Perhaps it represented an abandoned bride’s gown. Or maybe it was a sign of a nunlike seclusion. Or maybe her desire to rise above her body and devote herself wholly to her transcendent when she dies. Many scholars claimed that she started to wear all white apparel after her father had passed away as a means of telling death that she was heaven bound and that deaths grip could no longer hold her back. While other critics have stated that she chose to wear white as a symbol of purity. Often times in many countries women who war all white dresses are virgins that wear white in order to let the community in which they live know that they have never been touched by a man. And these women tend to live with their parents until they are married.

To me with her being a female with her own distinctive individuality and being known for her unique collection of poems about love, death, nature, religion and heartbreak, there could have be a number of reasons why she had chosen to wear the color white. Perhaps maybe she wore the color white, because she just likes the color white. I don’t think the critic and scholars have ever thought of that as being the case.
In addition to this information the author J. Brooks Bouson made references to the fact that Dickinson never had any face-to-face contact with any of her visitors; she only spoke them behind screens or closed doors. I find this tidbit of information very fascinating, since I have read several books and various articles about Emily Dickinson. This is the first article that I had come across that said that she only spoke to people in this manner. WOW!!! If this information is in fact true than she would be considered a schizophrenic in the mental health field. Oftentimes people with schizophrenic may withdraw from the outside world. He or she may act out in confusion and be fearful of others in society.

Many Schizophrenic individuals have a hard time of talking to people in the same room. Many tend to walk around the room while you are trying to talk to them, while others will look at objects instead of looking at you. Some Schizophrenic individuals are very leery of people in general. However, I have met the most talented individuals who suffer from Schizophrenia. Many can sing or play instruments. You can see them perform in the subways or on the streets of Chicago. And most of them are in fact homeless today.

How many of you have seen the movie the Soloist in with Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. The movie is based on a true story about a talented homeless musician who suffered from schizophrenia and he has a hard time dealing with people. You’d have to see the movie for yourself, to see how it turns out.