#271 Strike and Fade- Henry Dumas
It’s Vietnam era, and you can feel the tension in the
street. But, the tension isn’t about the war, it’s about racial injustice;
civil unrest that the police call a riot, but the locals call a revolution. Police
swarm the neighborhood, and it feels like a siege. Tyro, a neighborhood hero
has come back from the war missing limbs, now he teaches the angry youth about
rebellion.
“All I can figure is that one day the chips are all comin
down…learn to strike hard, but don’t be around in the explosion. If you don’t
organize, you ain’t nothing but a rioter, a looter…Don’t riot. Rebel.”
It’s confusion, blood-red anger, and hope for change.
Comparing the war in Viet Nam to the conflict in black urban neighborhoods is
an important comparison. Dumas creates an emotional, frenetic mood, and the
prose is rhythmic and musical.
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