By William “Duke” Smither “Because power corrupts, society’s demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases.” (John Adams, 2nd President of the United States) National Moral Character? Lordy, Lordy! One would have had to have been born “Rip Van Winkle II,” the fictional dude who fell asleep and […]
Welcome to "Talking Drum Dialogues," current website for William "Duke" Smither, Author of "Backroads to 'Bethlehem'...," the novel.
"BACKROADS TO 'BETHLEHEM': Odysseys of the Maroon Warrior...," is available on-line at Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com. The story is set within 17th & 18th century Brazil and Jamaica on the widening landscape of "Maroon Wars," as well as concerted efforts among West African tribes and the indigenous peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean. A "free preview" is obtainable via this site's "Navigation" page (click MENU icon, upper left). However, please feel free to sift through the various other blog/ journal postings below. Thank you for visiting.
The “‘First Lady’ of Soul” (March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) “Every time she sang, we were all graced with a glimpse of the divine… Through her compositions and unmatched musicianship, Aretha helped define the American experience. In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade — our […]
By William “Duke” Smither “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” Martin Luther King, Jr. While I never met Senator John McCain (08/29/1936 – 08/25/2018), as a U.S. Navy Viet Nam Era Veteran […]
By William “Duke” Smither “When the government violates the people’s rights then insurrection is, for the people and for every section of the people, the most sacred of their rights and the most indispensable of their duties.” – Circa 1790: Marquis de Lafayette, a French military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War and […]
by William “Duke” Smither “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana (from “Reason in Common Sense,” Vol. 1 of The Life of Reason, 1905; also, inscribed, in Polish translation, on a plaque at the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp, built and operated by Nazi Germany in WWII occupied Poland.) […]
By William “Duke” Smither (Backstreet Djeli Blog Reprint from Memorial Day 2014) “I am the Unknown Soldier And maybe I died in vain, But if I were alive and my country called, I’d do it all over again.” (From “The Unknown Soldier,” by Billy Rose) The first thing one notices when visiting the […]
by William “Duke” Smither “My grandfather had a dream that his four little children will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream that enough is enough…” Nine-Year-Old Yolanda Renee King (Eldest granddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr. during “March of Our Lives” […]
