Mount Meigs

Lonnie HolleyLonnie Holley 

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Lonnie Holley

Lonnie Bradley Holley, sometimes known as The Sand Man (born February 10, 1950 in Birmingham, Alabama), is an American artist, art educator, and musician. He is best known for his assemblages and immersive environments made of found materials. He was born the 7th of 27 children during the Jim Crow era and claims to have been traded for a bottle of whiskey when he was four. more »

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MOUNT MEIGS

Mount Meigs
Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children
‘64
They let me go
They let me go from Mount Meigs, Alabama
In 1964
But with some cuts and bruises that I will never forget 
Alabama Industrial School
The hardships that the children was going through
Children after children after children
Picking cotton
Toting those bales
Bending our backs
Hoeing up and down the ditches and the creeks
Flat weeding
Hearing the old Farmall tractor chucking up the hill
Changing the gears
Singing the song
Knock Time Coming and It Won’t Be Long, You gonna see old Sally, you gonna see old Sally with the red dress on”
Mr. Glover sitting
On his can
With his greasy, oily stick and fan belt in his hand
Telling you to put your dick in the hole
As he gets ready to whoop you and beat you down on the ground
Teardrops of boys and girls
Girls and boys crying
“I wanna go home”
Old man get up and say, “You had a good home but you wouldn’t stay there”
“You had a good home but you wouldn’t stay there”
We was trying to understand the meaning of “wouldn’t stay there”
I was only trying to run away to find my mother
I needed my mother
I needed the hugs
I needed the, I just needed her
I needed to know who my grandpappy was
I needed to know who my own mawmaw was
But I didn’t know
I didn’t have no idea
Sometimes feeling like a fool
Thinking that I was the most stupidest child that walked the earth
Nobody taught us anything
Got no education
Nobody let us have no wisdom
They beat the curiosity out of me 
They beat it out of me 
They whooped it 
They knocked it
They banged it 
Slammed it 
Damned it
Damned the curiosity
Only going one way down the row and making sure that you kept that row straight 
Making sure that you kept that row straight
Mount Meigs, Alabama
Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children
We didn’t get no scholarship
We didn’t get no graduate degree
But all that information is still within me
All of that information
At 71 years old and I still think of that day
The days and days and days and more days on top of the days
Picture me being there
Picture me being there
In Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children

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