We've Always Been Free
Poems, Reveries, Short Stories, photos and other musings of growing up in Chagrin Falls Park, Ohio
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
One poem "Small town America" relates directly to my experience growing up in Chagrin Falls Park, Ohio and gives readers a personal view of a young African American male growing up in the midwest.
Small town AmericaWhere cascaded waters roar Beneath Iron Bridges
Along main streets Past curio shops
Activity ladened While bright bulbed
Bundles of Cheer Serve omnipresent spirits
Quaint as an attitude
You sit
Gazebo like
A lone sentinel
Posted on the outskirts
Middle America
Proudly Playing reveille
on the bugle
Of tradition
Where no one Knows hunger
Yet everyone senses Starvation
Dissapointing you are not
In all aspects
except humanity
You found
Steamy
Lush Valleys
Among you Still seek
Solemn devotion At the alter
Of antique Oriental BMWs
Small town America
Petrified
Mortified
Yuppified
Save your beauty
For generations
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Chagrin Falls Park, Ohio, this bucollic town set in the rustic fields of Northestern Ohio continue to represent the dreams and aspirations of a group of African American pioneers who fought not only the harships and vissitudes of this rural existence, but had to at the same time fight racism and prejudice that kept them separated and to a great extent isolated from the lives of those folks that lived all around and consipred to keep them down and when possible retake control of the one hundred and ten acre parcel of land.
Valiantly, and with the organizational genius of their forefathers and mothers, they built a community, a village a town that could attest to their drive, determination and courage. Charin Falls Park, Ohio is about thrity miles outside of Cleveland, Ohio in Geauga County, although it was gerrymandered away from Cuyahoga County, which has a large African American community and annexed by Geauga County, which meant no representation for the residents of Chagrin Falls Park. It remains that way to this day.
This book was written to begin to draw attention to the plight of these individuals and this community. The objective here is to assist the residents in obtaining designation for this community as a historic black town. To provide protection for the history of this town, and more importantly to provide direction for the maintenance of this town continuation of this community through economic assistance programs.
About the Author
Anderson Hitchcock, currently resides and writes in Los Angeles, California. Anderson has completed master work in community economic development at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and has studied classical flute at the University of Alaska, in Fairbanks. Born and raised in Chagrin Falls Park, Ohio, Anderson has traveled extensively throughout Africa, Europe and the Caribbean and studied martial arts in Asia. He has two children, Mori and Ghenea , who live with their mother, Clara in Chester, Pa.
In addition to having acquired Black Belts in two deferent martial arts styles over the past two decades, Anderson has taught hundreds of young people from all walks of life how to defend themselves if need be, and more importantly, how to use their inner peace and calm to avoid dangerous situations, knowing that the objective of martial arts training is in how to avoid situations that can be dangerous. Soo Bahk Do - Moo Duke Kwan, and Haidong Gumdo are the styles that have led Anderson to become proficient in the use of weapons and bare hands and feet.
As a performance flute play, and spoken word artist, Anderson has performed all throughout America, Europe and Africa. Anderson has lived in Angola, South Africa and Namibia in West Africa for four years and traveled extensively throughout the continent as a procurer of precious metals to be sold on the open market. As a consultant to Emerging Markets, Inc. located in Los Angeles, Anderson has conducted extensive surveys into the spending, saving and investment habits of large swathes of the minority communities in LA.
Anderson speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and some Korean in addition to English, and can be truly considered to be a renaissance man of the twenty first century. I hope that this book sheds some light on the continuing struggles of African Americans in the small burgs throughout America and that the telling of this story draws attention to these historic black enclaves.