October 31st, 2013

                                                        “ODE TO THE REDDICK LINEAGE”


                                                                            Who is David Reddick?

 Diamonds are formed from
heat, pressure and time. The thing to diamonds being formed is that not enough
pressure and they stay coal, too much heat and they burn up or turn to lava. Any
other situational difference than the idea amount of heat, time and pressure you
don’t have a diamond. I am not a diamond “yet” but I believe that I am well on
my way. 
               
I was born in Anniston, Alabama to a mixed race household. At the time I
was born being a black man married to a white woman wasn’t too popular; 1972 was
the tail end of the “Jim-crow South.” There was a time that my father and mother
were almost lynched for being together in public. My father was arrested for
“kidnapping” and my mother for loitering, they were then taken to the jail were
Klan members dressed in “Sons of the Confederacy” outfits had begun to arrive.
They were talking about where they were going to dispose of their bodies in
front of them.  The one thing the police hadn’t considered was that, one of the 
people that witnessed them kidnap my parents was active in the civil-rights 
movement and ex-military. He called every black leader, preacher and politician 
he knew and they organized the black community. Reverend Abernathy along with
Reverend N.Q. Reynolds, called to the
Talladega police department they were being held at and said “You have 15
minutes to have them back in Anniston, or we’re coming down there.” They gave
them a police escort back to the city limits. I grew up with this sense of “need
for justice” as a result of hearing some of the story’s I heard my father tell
and some of the injustices I witnessed growing up. 
               
When I was a young child my family was the first minority family to move
into the East 23rd Street (all white) section of Anniston.
The way this was accomplished was, my mother went and meet with the leasing
person with one of the Caucasian members of Miracle Revival Temple, (The church
my family attended). She would explain that my father was at work and would sign
his section of the agreement once he had a day off. When she said my father
worked on the Ft. McClellan army base, the agent just assumed he was white and
gave my mother the key. My parents have never been very affectionate people; so
on moving day everyone assumed that he was the mover. My brothers and I were
very fair complexioned, so everyone assumed that we were white. At that age I
looked Irish with my freckles and curly red hair. My older brother had jet-black
hair with large curls, he looked Italian. My younger brother was just a toddler,
so he spent most of moving day in a crib. When my father went in to the leasing
  office to sign his portion of the contract to get the gas cut on he was told,
“ya’ll can’t move in here!” My parents were prepared for this because the church
had already hired a lawyer, who explained to the agent that, if they refused to
  allow us to move in that would be racial discrimination, and we were prepared
  to sue. We were allowed to stay. 
                
Living on East 23rd was also interesting for me. At first I
had a lot of children to play with. When their white parents realized that we
were black, they no longer allowed their children to come outside when we did. I
spent a lot of time outside, so I don’t know what the other kids did for fun.
The older ones would sneak out and play with my older brother, even though their
parents told them not to. I had no idea at the time that living on East
23rd was ground breaking;
I was just being a kid. Today I can look back at my old memories not with jaded
disgust, but with a sense of pride and a lot of love. I am grateful that my
parents didn’t share with us the ugly side of racism that they faced each day,
but the love of all men and women no matter their race or anything else. I am
also grateful that my parents were bold enough to take the actions that they did
to make the world a better place, one city at a time. 
              
I returned to Anniston after ten years of being away in 2007. After only
seven months back home I ran for public office. I didn't win that election; I
  actually lost by approximately 30 votes. Again in 2012 I ran for public office
  and won. Today I have the wonderful opportunity of serving as “Anniston City
  Councilman; Ward 2” in the city that my family had done so much work in. These
  political campaigns allowed me to get to know some of the men and women that
were also part of integrating Anniston. They began to tell me stories of my
  grandmother (Evelyn “James” Reddick) and the work she used to do with
organizations like the Alabama Democratic Caucus (ADC) and the Southern
Christian leadership Conference (SCLC). They began to tell me stories of how my
grandmother would not only partake in marches, meetings or anything else she
could do to make a change; but they also bragged on how she was always in the
lead. They called her fearless! “We could always count on Ms. Evelyn” these
leaders would say about her. “Grandma” Passed away my senior year of high
school, but I always loved being around her (except when she made me watch
soap-operas on television), and learning from her. One of the last things I
remember hearing her say to me was, “God made me a promise that He would use my
family,” and she believed that too! I had no idea that my “Grandma” was so
politically and civically active. I do however, remember being at her house or
walking the streets with her and people would either come by or stop her in the
street and tell her how they were having a problem. She always seemed to know
just what to say or just who to talk to, to place each passerby at ease. 
               
I find it amazing that all of this history and progress was going on
around me and I had no idea! It was just a part of the life we lived in my
family. I assumed that everyone’s life was just like mine because that was the
only life I knew growing up. As I have grown older, I now realize that my father
was grooming us for greatness. Whenever my siblings and I brought a problem to
him, he expected us to have some idea of what we planned to do to remedy the
  situation. If our ideas of what needed to be done was a bad idea he would offer
  a better solution, and then he would basically stand back and allow “us” to
  attempt to remedy it. If we brought a problem or situation to him with no
  options, he would tell us to go figure out how we were going to fix it and then
  come back to him. Of course if it was an emergency or something he knew we
couldn't handle he would intercede on our behalf, but other than that he was a
sounding board for each situation. My father even had me read schematics on
advanced video game components as early as 14. This showed me how to use
reasoning and critical thinking that I have been able to convert to situations
that I may face today. I love that I am now able to see things in so many ways,
and be mostly objective at all times.
               
I had the great opportunity to serve as NAACP president in the state of
Alabama from 2010-2012, and I am active in many civil and civic organizations. I
moved away from home right after barely finishing high school and joined the
U.S. Navy. There I had the privilege of being able to work with every ethnicity
of person imaginable. I also got the opportunity to travel to many foreign
  countries and territories. I heard a comedian say that “we are the sum total of
  our lives experiences” and I feel as though I am a lot of person. It’s hard to
  sum up my life in just 1500 words but if I had to describe myself in only two,
  those words would be “diamond destined.”