Comments for Alabama Possible

Comment on A Tribute to Wayne Flynt by Brooks Blevins

Brooks Blevins — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:46:25 +0000

I don’t know of another mentor who has set higher standards for his students than Wayne Flynt, not only in terms of expectations on exams and theses but in terms of the broadest scope of what it means to be a citizen and a human being. As a myopic graduate student of Wayne’s during what must have been the busiest stage of a frenetic career, I was only partially aware of the reach of his message and the impact of his work. What I was mostly aware of was that he was a first-rate teacher who brought an obvious passion to the classroom and left copious and insightful remarks on research papers and dissertation chapters. And he was the deliverer of countless pep talks, uplifting anxious and exasperated graduate students with words that would have done any Alabama football coach proud.

As a naive graduate student, I grew to accept as “normal” the influence that my professor had. It didn’t seem out of the ordinary that a history professor — that any academic for that matter — would assume such a public role, would write editorials that impacted public policy, would incur the wrath of organizations and individuals who disagreed with his views, would serve as a de facto conscience for an entire state. Since leaving Auburn in the mid-1990s my career has introduced me to three different states; not a one of them has a Wayne Flynt, or anyone remotely resembling a Wayne Flynt. And I suspect Alabamians who haven’t lived elsewhere can’t appreciate just how unusual it is to have a Wayne Flynt, a learned scholar and writer who teaches and preaches, who is as comfortable in the midst of the overall-clad crowd at the feed mill as he is in the halls of academe, who tells it like it is with no dreams of power or fortune. He will always remain for me the model of the public scholar and the just man.

Comment on A Tribute to Wayne Flynt by Mark Wilson

Mark Wilson — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:29:58 +0000

I was an undergraduate at the University of Mobile when I first heard Dr. Flynt speak at an Alabama Cooperative Baptist Fellowship meeting. The statewide movement for constitutional reform was gaining ground, and I remember asking one of my political science professors whom I knew was among those persons meeting in Montgomery if he knew Wayne Flynt. “Everyone was talking around the issue,” he said, “and then Wayne got to the podium and outlined how the constitution was a document born out of issues of class and race.” I was never more proud to be Baptist, since there are plenty of moments when the opposite is true.

But it was not until I was in my last year at McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University that I met Wayne in person, on the good advice of Loyd Allen, a church history professor with equal respect for Wayne. I was born in the right year and had the good fortune to be among the last group of doctoral students he took on at Auburn University. One of the best decisions of my life was taking his advice to become an intern for Sowing Seeds of Hope in the summer of 2001. That summer in Perry County helped me understand what citizens can and should do in their communities–across issues of race, class, gender, and any other potentially dividing characteristic–to create a world we know is possible.

Dr. Flynt’s work continues to shape me and those who care about our state. His opportunities to leave the state have been many, but he always found a reason to stay in Alabama. He keeps on keeping on, giving as much time as he can give to anyone who calls. That’s a reputation that will last forever.

Comment on Children’s Fresh Air Farm: “These kids deserve this.” by cathylarue-redd

cathylarue-redd — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 23:14:55 +0000

I was a camper when I was little this place was great Icouldnt wait each year to see my friend swimming , my garden ,church,band, singing in line at food time .It was also nice to have a place .me and my brother loved this place very glad to see its still here.

Comment on A Tribute to Wayne Flynt by Bob England & Tiffany Boyd

Bob England & Tiffany Boyd — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:28:00 +0000

Wayne Flynt arrived on the campus of Samford University as a brand spaking new assistant professor of history the same time I waltzed into his clutches as a green-as-grass- freshman with a a completely formed view of southern history in the fall of 1965. In the next nine years, without a whole lot of contact, we moved closer and closer to one another until I introduced the Foxfire Concept of Education to Alabama as a result of a course he taught with Jim Brown, Leah Atkins, and Dave Vess–all Samford professors and my friends–in Bibb County with a little publication called ‘Sparrow Hawk.’ What can I say more than that? My entire career lies on the foundation of his influence on me, on his deep understanding of the need to intellectually understand folk culture and at the same time, appreciate the depth and and sorrows of its origins in oppression, apprehension, anxiety about “others,” and the manipulation by those who stand to benefit by a status quo which cannot subsist much longer on the backs of those who bear the burdens of productivity and capitalistic excesses. Flynt’s vision of Christianity shines as a bright light to all of us who believe the best way to elevate our population out of poeverty involves reaching down and extending a hand to those deserving poor through economic equity brought about by education.

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Comment on A Tribute to Wayne Flynt by Charlotte Ward

Charlotte Ward — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:26:26 +0000

Wayne is my Sunday School teacher, the best i ever had. But beyond that he is my good neighbor and friend, Who gives this old lady a ride to church on Sunday mornings, as well as being thoughtful and helpful in countless other ways, not just to me, but to everyone who needs his help. I am so thankful to know him and Dartie.

Comment on A Tribute to Wayne Flynt by Kristina Scott

Kristina Scott — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:09:46 +0000

I am a history geek, and when I read his books, I always find an answer to a question I had been pondering. For instance, I am often confronted with the notion that the “poor will always be with us,” as stated in the Gospel. One night, I was reading Dixie’s Forgotten People, and there was Wayne, writing that he wished more people accepted that as an observation rather than a commandment. The lightbulb went off!

I have the great pleasure of working with Wayne, and talking with him always reminds me to both keep fighting everyday for what’s right and to take the long view. We shouldn’t get frustrated and move on to something else – because, in the long run, change is possible.

Comment on Montgomery Advertiser: Alabama Voices: Flynt has been the state’s conscience by A Tribute to Wayne Flynt « Alabama Possible

A Tribute to Wayne Flynt « Alabama Possible — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 21:41:11 +0000

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