I am John Edgar Tidwell, University of Kansas (tidwelje@ku.edu), and editor of the oft-mentioned books by Frank Marshall Davis. Although prior commitments prevent me from actively participating in this debate, I would like to take this opportunity to confirm the identity of Mark Kaleokualoha Davis, who posts comments as "Kaleokualoha," and who has a blog at [1]. He is indeed the son of Frank Marshall Davis. I can also verify that Kaleokualoha's Alan Maki post [2] contains an accurate copy, through Jul 12th 2008 at 11:13 pm EDT, of the COMMENTS section from Alan Maki's blog at [3]. Alan Maki subsequently deleted critical comments, falsely claiming they were "part of a racist, anti-Semitic hate campaign," when in fact they were only critical of Maki's actions. A comparison of both blogs will verify that Kaleokualoha's comments were NOT part of a racist, anti-Semitic hate campaign.Although my research indicates that Davis joined the CPUSA as a "closet member" during Word War II, there is no evidence that he was a Stalinist, or even a Party member before WWII. Further, to those attempting to make the specious stand for the concrete, there is no evidence that he instructed Barack Obama in communist ideology. Frank Marshall Davis did NOT believe in overthrowing the USA. He was committed to what the nation professed to be. For him, communism was primarily an intellectual vehicle to achieve a political end-a possible tool for gaining the constitutional freedoms of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for ALL Americans.
References:
1. http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/Kaleokualoha
2. http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/Kaleokualoha/gGxk2C
3. http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/alanmaki/gG5GqK/commentary#comments
(See Frank Marshall Davis "Rice & Roses" PBS program at
http://www.hawaii.edu/uhwo/clear/HonoluluRecord1/Frankvideo.html)
Comments are closed for this post.
