Tale of unknowns in the franchise business
“Franchise: The Golden
Arches in Black America” by
Marcia Chatelain
c.2020, Liveright $28.95
/ $38.95
Canada
336 pages
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
Your hand is in the bag
again.
Those French fries you
bought aren’t going to make
it home, that’s for sure. You
should’ve bought a double
order; your burger won’t
taste the same without them
alongside. Sometimes, a
craving hits and that kind
of food saves the day; in the
new book “Franchise” by
Marcia Chatelain, that kind
of food once changed neighborhoods.
What did you have for
lunch today?
If you’re like a third of
your fellow Americans, you
ate lunch or some other
meal at a fast-food restaurant.
It wasn’t always so: a
century ago, cooked ground
beef was a food for the lower
and working-classes, not
for the masses. Eventually,
though, the taste of a burger
and fries won over just
about everyone — and then
came McDonald’s which,
says Chatelain, “has affected
the ways Americans eat,
play, and work.” The restaurant
also affected the Civil
Rights movement — and
vice versa.
In 1961, after Ray Kroc
assumed control of the chain
he created, he began flying
around the country in
search of places to further
expand his McDonald’s restaurants.
Humbleton
releases his
‘Transition’
album
Continued from Page 45
Vincy icon brought Big Drum alive in Union Island
Caribbean L 46 ife, February 7-13, 2020
There were already
two in the Chicago area and
they were profitable. Though
both stores were then owned
by white men, one store was
run by a Black manager; that
was fine with Kroc, as long
as the place was profitable.
The idea of a restaurant
that served everyone, regardless
of race, intrigued African
American southerners
who were living under Jim
Crow laws. When McDonald’s
moved to their areas, segregation
was in effect but the
Civil Rights movement was
coming, along with protests
and sit-ins. Kroc tended not
to get involved, preferring
that franchisees deal with
situations on their own.
By spring of 1968, that was
no longer tenable. Whiteowned
restaurants were an
“irritation” in Black neighborhoods
and after Dr. King
was assassinated, resentment
boiled over. Kroc decided
that it was best to find black
franchisees to assume ownership
of such restaurants in
those areas. So by the end of
that year, Herman Petty of
Chicago proudly opened the
first Black-owned McDonald’s
location…
With a sub-title of “The
Golden Arches in Black
America” on the cover of this
book, one might think that
it would include something
about nutrition. It does – but
not much, and not until the
end. Instead, author Marcia
Chatelain uses “Franchise”
to focus mostly on a history
of the chain itself and its
business relationship with
the Black community.
It’s a 60-year account
that’s tasty, but there’s not
always a happy story to go
along with the Happy Meal,
which Chatelain explains,
starting at mid-century. It’s
a tale of unknowns who are
usually unsung, and some
that are total surprises;
Chatelain also examines ofttold
Civil Rights stories as
they relate to the McDonald’s
chain, showing history from
a different spot at the table.
This is not your run-ofthe
mill business book, nor
is it an everyday history read.
It’s actually a little of both,
and worth a look. If you’re
seeking something to learn
and enjoy, “Franchise” has it
in the bag. Book cover of “Franchise The Golden Arches in Black America.”
ton is no stranger to navigating
the scene.
She said he started his career
in the early ’90s and that he was
“both inspired and influenced
by some familiar heavyweights
like Buju Banton, Terro Fabulous
and Bob Marley.”
“As a youth, Humbleton
got into singing and dancing,”
Driven said, adding: “This was
the start of his desire to be an
entertainer.”
Humbleton said his ability
to create music was developed
“just by feeling the rhythm or
the beat.”
By Nelson A. King
While dedicating its recent
37th anniversary gala luncheon
at Grand Prospect Hall in
Brooklyn to the late Vernalyn
Blencowe, a staunch executive
member, community stalwart
and cultural icon, the Brooklynbased
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Ex-Teachers Association
of New York, Inc. underscored
Blencowe’s role in reviving the
Big Drum in her native Union
Island in the southern St. Vincent
Grenadines.
Blencowe – whose professional
career spanned over 50 years
of teaching both in St. Vincent
and the Grenadines and Brooklyn
– died
on July 20 and interred on
Aug. 3 in Union Island. She was
79.
She was also a Licensed Practical
Nurse in New York, community
activist and poet, among
other things.
In its souvenir journal for the
annual celebration, which also
commemorated the birthday of
slain US civil rights leader, the
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
the St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Ex-Teachers Association
of New York, Inc. said that
Blencowe believed that “traditions
and culture of every nation
should be cherished and preserved.
“If the young cannot read
about their heritage, their selfworth
diminishes, and they
come to believe that the inhabitants
of another country are
better than they are,” the group
said.
As early as 1965, the group
said Blencowe began writing
about the Union Island traditions,
which was “dear to her
heart.
“She went home to Union
Island and brought the Big
Drum alive,” said the ex-teachers,
featuring a sample of Blencowe’s
writing in the journal.
“In many of the West Indian
islands, there is a certain kind of
hand-down culture, either from
ancestral past or from Negro
slavery,” Blencowe wrote. “In
Trinidad and Tobago it is the
shango and calypso; in Haiti one
would find voodooism. Here,
in Union Island, the Big Drum
Dance custom is hand-down
from our African ancestors.”
Blencowe said North Americans
and Europeans who visited
Union Island always looked forward
to seeing this dance.
They also sought to learn
something about the strangelyworded
songs, which characterized
the Big Drum Dance, she
said.
As the name implies, Blencowe
said the musical instruments,
which supply the music
for the dance, are drums, “with
small clean dried goat skins
drawn tightly at one of the open
ends, a pair of ‘shac-shac’ (a
small calabash containing pebbles
or seeds with a stick on one
end).
“Each drum is tuned to
sound a little different, and those
who make them are considered
experts in the art,” she said,
adding that a second “calendar
tune” is beaten for the towel
dance.
“Two towels spread in the
form of a cross are placed in front
of the drummers, led by the lead
dancer,” Blencowe wrote. “They
take turns in dancing the towels.
After this, the ring is opened
to Big Drum dancers, who wish
to participate.”
“Healing a sick person sometimes
call for a Big Drum,” she
continued. “Casting away evil
spirits call for the Big Drum,
the Orradah, and the Charnbah
Dance is done. The chant is doleful,
and the drumbeat seems to
entreat some mysterious deity
to come to their rescue. It is a
belief and, sometimes, success
comes.”