Challenging Technopoly
The Vision of John Henry
by
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John Henry sat up and spun around so he could see both hammers at once. The rich oak arms of the handles glistened from the oil that had seeped into them from John Henry’s calloused hands. The branching veins of wood grain made their way down the shafts to unflinching black fists of hardened steel that sat, knuckles down, on the blue tarp. Grown men swore they had seen railroad spikes sink into the ground in terror when John Henry swung his hammers. The silence seemed to deepen in John Henry’s tent. It was the respectful silence of anticipation an audience gives an artist just prior to his performance. John Henry arose slowly, until he stood like a giant sequoia, his head inches away from the roof of the tent. He then bent forward, wrapping a powerful hand around each gleaming oak shaft.”
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About the Book
“And herein lies the irony of the situation, certainly as far as African Americans were concerned. On one hand the machine was regarded as a curse because it represented a threat to employees. But the “last hired, first fired” employment principle that was applied to African American employees made the machine an even greater threat to them. Then, on the other hand, the machine reduced the amount of human physical exertion required to accomplish a task. Since racist discrimination insured that African Americans would end up with the least desirable, most arduous tasks, machines were then simultaneously viewed as a blessing.” Resolving this conundrum was the dilemma facing the African American worker following the Civil War. The Legend of John Henry was the vehicle African Americans created to set forth their struggle. The “legend” quickly gave birth to The Ballad of John Henry. And, as such, it functioned as the healing element in a blues piece functions. Referred to as “Stompin’ the Blues,” it enables those who partake to overcome the pain of whatever trial or tribulation may have them down. The “legend” and the “ballad” utilized the very powerful format of storytelling to both present the immediate issue as well as to make the timeless point. African Americans of that day were responding to the onset of technopoly via The Legend of John Henry. Today as modern society struggles with weapons of mass destruction and environmental devastation, it should be obvious that John Henry remains the “Man of the Moment.”
About the Author
Author Ali Rashid Abdullah’s latest work takes us to a crossroad in the evolution of modern society. He suggests we return to the legend of John Henry for direction in a world that has become dominated by the theories of science and the gadgetry of technology. In his work Challenging Technopoly: The Vision of John Henry, Abdullah combines a number of literary elements reminiscent of the manner employed in Harlem Renaissance writer Jean Toomer’s classic novel Cane. He tells two stories. The first is a re-telling of the original Legend of John Henry. The second is an original piece entitled John Henry’s Vision that seeks to reveal the vision latent in the classic legend. Abdullah also presents an essay that examines the basis for John Henry’s oppositional stance against the technological wizardry of his era. Another literary element included is a poignant poem that re-creates the Harlem setting of Abdullah’s childhood where he first encountered the figure of John Henry. As in the original “Legend,” there is a challenge being put forth here in Abdullah’s work -- a challenge that questions the notion of science and technology being our primary source of wisdom and our irrefutable voice of authority. Indeed, rather than discarding John Henry’s ideas as “old-fashioned,” Abdullah perceives them to be right on time.