Blast from the Past — Clinton and the Historic Black Depot

All the recent talk about the black vote and Clinton as the “first black president” as Toni Morrison called him way back in the 1990s made me remember something I covered in 2001 for several outlets including The Dallas Morning News.

It was then that a lawsuit was filed in federal court about a depot on the grounds of the Clinton Presidential Library. The historic depot was built by former slaves with handcrafted bricks. At the time, preservationists said the depot was the last of its kind in the mid-South. Bill Clinton was lobbied to save the depot, but did little do so.  Local attorney Greg Ferguson, also a historic preservation, filed a lawsuit to stop the demolition. A little too late. From the Nov. 24, 2001, Dallas Morning News:

Little Rock’s Board of Directors voted 8-1 Tuesday night to begin demolition of the depot. The city owns the 27.7-acre site and will lease it to the presidential foundation.On Wednesday morning, Mr. Ferguson filed a lawsuit and a request for an injunction in U.S. District Court against Little Rock, the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and several federal agencies including the Army Corps of Engineers. He was too late.Mr. Ferguson spent all night drafting the lawsuit, only to learn in court that the depot was gone less than 20 hours after City Hall approved its demise.“The city didn’t even have all of its paperwork in order,” said Mr. Ferguson.

A month earlier, Clinton visited Little Rock.  Preservationists invited Clinton to tour the depot but he didn’t take them up on the offer. The Clinton Foundation said at the time that the plans for the library, which opened in 2004, was beyond changing at that point regardless of its slave-connected history.

Burning Down the House

It’s not every day you’re on the Dr. Phil show and you almost burn up the kitchen.

The day started gloomy. I didn’t want to get out of bed. I hate getting out of bed in winter. Call me a baby bear who loves hibernation.

Then I realize, whoa, I’m on the Dr. Phil website. Kinda groovy. In need of tea, I put the silver kettle on the stove’s back burner and head back to the computer. “Man, what’s that smell?” I thought. “Some soup or something must have leaked down into the eye.” Phew. After about oh, say, seven minutes I decide to go check.

Holy Smokes, Batman. Smoke engulfs the kitchen. Black charry soot flies around in the air, covering everything like volcano ash. In seconds, I look like a chimney sweep. The culprit: My stupidity. I had put the kettle on the back burner but turned on the front burner. No big whoop if there hadn’t been a cookie sheet on the front burner. With a dried up tea bag on it and Sweet and Low wrappers. Oh, and a roll from Community Bakery. Fire shot up through the cookie sheet. What was a girl to do but blow it out like the big bad wolf? So I did. Then a weird familiar odor from my childhood. Burnt shrinky drinks. Yuck. 

 Just in case you ever thought in your wildest fantasy I was a domestic goddess, think no more.

Dr. Phil — The Day Arrives

So it’s finally time for the Dr. Phil Show to air. The blog, iDivaMemphis, wrote about the appearance this week along with a flattering mention of Sex in the South. Pal TJ Deeter also mentioned the show on his ultracool must-do blog, Localist.

Linda Caillouet’s Paper Trail column in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, also mentioned the show. Since their website is complicated and based on registration, here’s what Linda wrote:

“An item here a few months ago mentioned that Little Rock-based freelancer Suzi Parker, formerly a reporter at this paper, was scheduled to appear soon on the Dr. Phil show.

Parker’s segment – originally set to air in mid-October – was bumped by the breaking Britney Spears-lost-custody-of-her-kids news.The latest? The segment has been rescheduled to air today at 3 p.m. on KTHV, Channel 11. (What is it with Dr. Phil’s fascination with Britney, anyway?).

The topic of today’s episode is suburban swingers.

Parker’s contribution? One of the chapters in her 2003 book Sex in the South features some

Benton residents who are, to steal a line from a Seinfeld episode, “into it.”

In recent years, Parker has made something of a cottage industry out of writing about sex, both in her book and in various online and print publications.”

And thanks to Lindsey Miller on the Rock Candy Blog who said the book had the “best cover ever.”

Planet Suzi : Who Am I?

Hi. Welcome to my new and improved blog “Invisible Ink.” Here you will find information about myriad topics — local and national politics, sex, rock and roll, travels, adventure and even international intrigue. Everything that holds my attention for more than five minutes.

You may be asking who is this Suzi Parker? I’m a journalist and author based in Little Rock, Arkansas, who covers news and politics for several newspapers and magazines including US News and World Report, The Economist and The Christian Science Monitor. My work has appeared in Salon, Nerve, The Dallas Morning News, The New Statesman and many other magazines and newspapers around the world.

In 2003, I published my first book, “Sex in the South: Unbuckling the Bible Belt.” That book was followed by “1000 Best Bartender’s Recipes.” I’m currently wrapping up a novel.

Check on www.myspace.com/suziparker to read some of my older articles and become my friend. Or you can find me on Facebook, too.