092622_GYS_2022_ONLINE

GU I D E to Y E L L OW S P R I NG S | 2O22 – 2O23 11 the right to be human, but powerful forces in society inhibit people from acting out that human-ness.” In recent interviews, former H.U.M.A.N. members recalled the wide range of activities of the activist group. Members traveled to Greensboro, N.C. to march after the so-called Greensboro Massacre, in which five civil rights demonstra - tors were killed by Ku Klux Klan and American Nazi Party members. They brought icons like Saul Alinsky, Anne Braden and Pete Seeger to the village. And they gathered regularly at “floating coffeehouses” in local homes to strategize and socialize. Although Dunn died in 1989, his legacy continues in the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, a New Orleans- based group he co-founded that has trained more than a million people at its “Undoing Racism” workshops, and in the local group he started in Yellow Springs, H.U.M.A.N., which is now back. Along with several former H.U.M.A.N. members, Carmen Lee is part of the next gen - eration of villagers helping to revive the group, which has been defunct since the mid- ’80s. “It’s important that we remember what Jim Dunn and Bill Chappelle hoped for humanity, and that we learn how to act instead of reacting to the events of the day,” Lee said. ORIGINS AT ANTIOCH H.U.M.A.N. can trace its birth to a conference held on the Antioch College campus in March 1978. The Conference on the Status of Human Rights in the U.S. was subtitled, “Shame of America: The nation takes a look at human rights; we take a look at the nation,” and was sponsored by Antioch Commu - nity Government. According to an early H.U.M.A.N. document, “the desire to establish a per- manent organization was expressed,” at the conference. A group named Human Rights Revisited was formed by area people after the conference, but many soon became frus- trated with its lack of organiza - tional structure. In response to those frustrations, H.U.M.A.N. was officially formed on Aug. 8, 1978. In an article in the Feb. 25, 1980, issue of the Antioch Record, Chappelle explained the group’s mission. “H.U.M.A.N. realizes that people are disenchanted with how the country deals with the problems of the poor and the aged, and with problems of hunger, housing, civil rights, prison reform, social welfare, health care, economic disparity, unemployment and so, and we at H.U.M.A.N. have organized to do something about these basic human problems at a grass roots level,” Chappelle told the Record. The organization’s full name, “Help Us Make A Nation,” implied that the country was not set up for everyone, and that there were marginal- ized groups struggling against discrimination who were systematically prevented from receiving the resources they needed to thrive. Chappelle died in 1998, but his widow and former H.U.M.A.N. member, Joan Chappelle, recently reflected on how he saw the organiza - tion’s name as an “affront to America.” “He was saying that this country, with its racism and other forms of oppression, wasn’t really a nation for all people,” she said. “We’ll start from the ground up, really making a nation.” When they founded the organization, Chappelle and Dunn were not only colleagues, but close friends. “They were inseparable,” Joan Chappelle recalled. Dunn came to Yellow Springs to teach at Antioch in 1971. His field was social work, while Chappelle was on the faculty of the music depart- ment. Together, they designed and taught a groundbreaking course on racism. The course was titled “Racism and Discrimination in America,” and the syllabus for the Winter 1979 semester, which can be found in the archives of the Olive Kettering Library at Antioch, was rich with iconic African American writers. That list included W.E.B. Dubois, Richard Wright, E. Eric Lincoln, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Ralph Ellison, Stokely Carmichael, Eldridge Cleaver and Benjamin Quarles. Students were given a list of recommended reading that included nearly 50 authors, and assigned to read and analyze at least one novel. But Dunn and Chapelle asked more of students than written assignments. Lectures would be sparse and given mainly to set the stage for discussion. Oral and group presentations and discussions addressed specific areas of racism such as housing, educa - tion, employment and political disenfranchisement. Mike Miller, a student in the course and, later, a H.U.M.A.N. member, recalled that Dunn Continued on page 14 4 MASSAGE THERAPY 937.768.0706 graciewilke@yahoo.com GRADUATE OF PAC I F I C COL LEGE OF HEALTH AND SC I ENCE • Gua Sha • Cupping Therapy • Myofascial Release