The Life and Death of Davis Knight after State vs. Knight (1948)

Renegade South

By Vikki Bynum

Courthouse in downtown Clinton, Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. The Davis Knight trial will be filmed here for the movie, Free State of Jones.

The Ellisville Courthouse, Ellisville, Mississippi, where Davis Knight was tried and found guilty of miscegenation. Photo by Victoria Bynum.

Davis Knight, the great-grandson of the infamous “Free State of Jones” guerrilla, Newt Knight, became the centerpiece of his own drama some 25 years after the death of his notorious ancestor. Although Davis was descended from Newt and his wife, Serena, both of whom were white, he was also the great-grandson of Rachel Knight, a former slave of Newt’s grandfather. And although Davis was white in appearance, because of his descent from Rachel, he was defined as black by his white neighbors. Some of those neighbors did not take kindly to Davis Knight’s marriage in 1946 to Junie Lee Spradley, a local white woman. In 1948, Davis…

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Serena Knight

Renegade South

There are many participants in the Free State of Jones that I wish I knew more about. One of them is Serena Knight, the white wife of Newt Knight. 

Serena is often forgotten in the rush to spotlight Newt’s interracial relationship with Rachel.  And, yet, Serena appears central to Newt’s decision to desert the Confederate Army; she was the mother of nine of his children. And she still lived with him in 1880, long after Rachel had begun to give birth to children believed to be fathered by her husband.

There was nothing unusual about Southern white men having sexual relations with black women, either forced or consensual, right under their wives’ noses, particularly before slavery was abolished. But Newt and Serena Knight’s post-Reconstruction interracial homestead was quite unusual. In 1878, two of their children, Matt and Mollie, married two of Rachel’s children, Fannie and Jeffrey. That made three interracial Knight unions that lived on the same land, although not in the same households. By 1880, these Knights constituted an interracial community that continued to grow over…

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Memorial Day Tribute to Those Who Paid the ULTIMATE Sacrifice for MY Freedom….

My tribute for Memorial Day Tribute project actually isn’t finished yet. That project is titled American Beauty Rose. Maybe I posted an early working version of that previously, but maybe not. Really don’t remember.

So… I conceived and posted White Crosses….

Those who paid the ultimate sacrifice- THEIR lives- for MY freedom… certainly deserve some small token of recognition and appreciation….

Thank you!

White Crosses (Intro)

30 May 2016 1521
by BaHR

I stand on a hill… and survey….
Seems all my eyes will spy today…
A pale horse….
A pale rider….
Death… making his way…
Making his War…
And… nothing more do I see…
Than all the grim sheaths he’s reaped….
Marked with ghostly White Crosses….

Speak your peace, White Crosses….
Arise!
Speak!
Defenders of Peace….

Ain’t Workin’ Today.

30 May 2016 1412 by BaHR Ah-wah-hah…. Oh-woh-ooh…. Wah-hah-hah…. Ooh-woo-hop…. Was feelin’ bad…. Ain’t gettin’ any better…. Keep remindin&#8217…

Source: Ain’t Workin’ Today.

Ain’t Workin’ Today.

30 May 2016 1412
by BaHR

Ah-wah-hah….
Oh-woh-ooh….
Wah-hah-hah….
Ooh-woo-hop….
Was feelin’ bad….
Ain’t gettin’ any better….
Keep remindin’ myself….
I got to forget her….
But… it ain’t workin’….
Nothin’ ain’t workin’….
Just ain’t workin’ today!

Must be some… holiday or sumpin’…
But… I can’t be certain….
Seems like my whole WORLD’S flipped and crazy…
Or… I done got lazy….
Keep tellin’ myself I gotta… move….
Gotta find some kinda… groove….
Gotta get back to workin’ today…..
But nothin’s workin’ today….

Life’s been a long line of dead ends.
Got no idea where to begin
To find someone….
Something….
Somewhere….
Somehow….
I can believe in….
So I can begin to piece this thing back together again….

But… I just sit here…
Twittlin’ my thumbs…
Feelin’ old… and stupid…
And actin’ dumb…
Just shootin’ the shit
And… drinkin’ myself numb
Tryin’ to drown her memory….

My sweet… sweet… SWEET Jenny….
Since I kissed Jenny’s sweet red-eyed ass goodbye
Seems all I wanna do I sit around here and cry….

Ah-wah-hah….
Oh-woh-ooh….
Wah-hah-hah….
Ooh-woo-hop….
I’m feelin’ bad….
And… it ain’t gettin’ better….
Now I’m fightin’ mad,
But I’m fightin’ forgettin’….
Guess I’m just a jerk… and…
My mojo ain’t workin’….
No… my mojo ain’t workin’….
Nothin’ ain’t workin’. today!

So… maybe I might just hit the road…
Ride towards that Sun that’s settin’…..
Bet before I get too far
I’ll be forgettin’ ever regrettin’
That I ain’t workin’….
No… I ain’t workin’ today….

Thank You for Loving Me.

30 May 2016 0933
by BaHR

 

When I feel unlovable,
You love me anyway.
When my life’s a struggle,
You teach me that I’ll be OK.
If I just trust you… and obey….

Lord, thank you for loving me!
Lord, thank you for loving me!
Lord, thank you for loving me!
Lord, thank you for loving me!

I know I’m bound to stumble.
And… Lord… I’m bound to fall….
But I know you’ll always be there to catch me.
Lord, you’re my All-in-All!
Yes, Lord, you’re my All-in-All!

Lord, thank you for loving me!
Lord, thank you for loving me!
Lord, thank you for loving me!
Lord, thank you for loving me!

Lord, I know I don’t deserve your love,
Still you gave your life for me.
And even though I can never repay your love,
Still you’re all I’ll ever need.
Lord, I give you all the Glory
For ALL you’ve given me.
But I’ve got one more thing to thank you for….
Lord, thank you for loving ME!!!

Lord, thank you for loving me!
Lord, thank you for loving me!
Lord, thank you for loving me!
Lord, thank you for loving me!

This Mess or Me…?

18 May 2016 by BaHR Lying awake after midnight praying. I ain’t mad, Honey. I’m just saying. God and Grace and my nerves are fraying. Can’t you be good and stop misbehaving? Somet…

Source: This Mess or Me…?

This Mess or Me…?

18 May 2016
by BaHR

Lying awake after midnight praying.
I ain’t mad, Honey. I’m just saying.
God and Grace and my nerves are fraying.
Can’t you be good and stop misbehaving?

Sometimes nothing says more than words.
Sometimes nothing says more than… words….
Sometimes nothing says more….
Sometimes nothing’s says more
Than walking out that door
Locking up my heart
Throwing away the key
Try to make a new start.
Begin a new life.
Make a good man a good wife.
Forgive, but never forget
Move on, but never regret
Lord, I love you, but I can’t live like this.
This is such a mess.
I’m begging on my knees, boy….
What’s it gonna be, boy?
What’s it gonna be…?
This mess… or me…?
This mess… or me, boy?
Ain’t gonna be your toy, boy.
So, tell me… what’s it gonna be…?
This mess… or me…?

Cuz, boy… I’ve had enough
Putting up with all your stuff
And this ain’t just a little huff
That’s gonna blow over….
No! I need to feel REAL love….
So… what’s it gonna be, boy?
What’s it gonna be….?
This mess or me…?

Ol’ Buzzard’s Song

18 May 2016 0448

I was lost and down-hearted
Alone and forsaken
Like an old buzzard sittin’ out by the roadside
Feelin’ too tired to fly
Didn’t know how to drive
Didn’t have no bike
So I guess I decided
I’d spend the rest of my life
Just wonderin’ ’round watching
Other folks lives slide by….

Then I spied a lone, lonely corn stalk
Standing still out in a cornfield
She looked like I felt…
too tired to walk….
But still too young to just die….
I’d about had enough
We were both burning up
Out in that hot Free State sunshine.
I was feelin’ pretty parched
And she looked like such a pretty perch
And I was tired of being scorched
By the bright bright light
Blown and burned by the bitter wind
All I could really see in store for me
Was some dark clouds in the distance
And a spate of stiff resistance
And… really no hope to ever find real love again
Really no hope to ever feel real love again
And I thought…
Maybe if I climb up that corn stalk….
At least I’ll see things from a different viewpoint
Maybe gain a complete change in perspective….
No… she ain’t my type….
But just overlook the hype
If I can just climb the height….
Maybe the work will be worth it….
And then my eyes met your eyes
And my lips met yours lips
And suddenly that kiss
My, oh my! It….
I can’t quite explain it….
It felt like rain….
It felt like rain!
Wet on my big beak
Streaming down my hard cheek
Cool down to my toes
Refreshing my soul
It was all I needed then
To feel alive again
Just a thundershower
Of some cool, cool rain!