WL: Comrade CB evidently took my comments to mean that one something unique about this structure from those in other cities.
^^^^^ CB:Not particularly , but, I am down with the general idea of just deliberating a little more on where the masons of various types, Black and white, fit in to the social structure of the U.S., and your musings below are right on that. As far as the building, I always have in the back of my mind "well, these are masons and this is a stone building, this masonic temple, so they may have a bit a deeper meaning to their temple." The other level is since most of human existence time wise was in the Stone ages, with stone tools being a main instrument of production, in a sense, masonry is the oldest labor. I imagine the masons are aware of that. Then there are pyramids, which is masons in original monumental architecture. Yes, ancient trade unions or guilds. At any rate , what are some of the elements of masonic ideology ? Does masonic ideology give us a picture of the thinking of some working class groups from earlier time periods, even from feudalism ? The Prince Hall lodges include a number of distinguished gentlemen on their rosters such as Supreme Court Justice Marshall, Mayor Tom Bradley of Los Angeles, Dr. Benjamin Hooks of the NAACP, Mayor Andrew Young of Atlanta, and Mayor Coleman Young of Detroit. Of course, none of these black Masons would be allowed to visit a white Masonic lodge. Whether Masonry influenced Southern mores or was simply influenced itself is hard to determine. Even during the civil-rights battles of the 1960s, knowledgeable blacks discovered that many of the leaders of the segregationist movement, such as Governors George Wallace of Alabama, Orval Faubus of Arkansas, and Ross Barnett of Mississippi, were also active Masons. <<<<< Comment I do not possess the intellectual capability to craft a book on the role of African Americans in the Masonic Movement. Or the desire or patients. The quoted comment above is instructive. Those recruited into the Prince Albert sector of the Mason - as best as I could tell in Detroit, tend to be of the middle strata (class) and that strata called the labor lieutenants of capital, and this for me includes organizations like the NAACP, PUSH as well as the upper strata of the trade union movement. Or certain individuals with leadership skills. Another small layer of people are retired auto workers who simply have the time and energy to engage any kind of civic activity. These retired autoworkers are in history and currently the upper layer of our working class. Lenin said we communist are just a drop in the bucket. I have been approached to join the Masons - Prince Hall of course, many times over the past 35 years, and mostly by union officials, "number men," entertainers and generally folk of the entrepreneur mode - petty capitalist type. The Masons have working class members but so do the Democrats and Republicans. My work has carried me into various realms, some of which many comrades simply do not volunteer for or care to carry out their activity in. Like the Church and the old Theology in Americas Movement - Liberation Theology. I am a communist and do Marx - flat out, but I work where ever the action is. I have not hid my politics, including siding with the Stalin polarity within the world communist movement. Hey . . . don't hate! :-) I was actually living in Atlanta Georgia when Andrew Young was elected Mayor and he was a despicable man in the political sense, and vastly different from a Coleman Young Jr. Yet, certain class factors unite a Coleman Young Jr. and an Andy Young and even a Harold Washington. I have experienced some Mason initiation, because I wanted to know directly and my recruiters understood I was a communist worker and Marxist. My comments on the Masons is basically limited to that aspect of their history before the rise of speculative Masonry. The speculative Masons - basically all of them today, do not know "jack" about building structures. Speculative Masonry carries the same connotation as speculative capital - as a concept of being. Mason structures - real building, are works of art and contain mathematical equations. Mason were master builders passing down a real trade from one generation to the next. That is why I mentioned the Masonic Temple in Detroit and why one should visit it and examine its structure and art symbols. Comrade CB evidently took my comments to mean that one something unique about this structure from those in other cities. What I meant was go look at it. Go inside and examine its details . . . I have years before being invited into the Masons. In a sense the Masons were the very first form of organizations of what today is trade unions. Very skilled men of structure. Here is something to think about in terms of the future of trade unions and the industrial union movement in particular. Masonry as an ideological movement is a lot different and a bonifde historian one should seek out. The "Hiram Key" is a must read. Got the book when it was published. Waistline _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list [email protected] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
