Josh Salyers Exploration 4: The 60s and Z Alexander Looby

Z Alexander Looby was one of the first practicing black lawyers in the south during the 20s and 30s, earning a B.A. degree from Howard University and a law degree from Colombia U. A successful lawyer in his will to change desegregation, he filed lawsuits against Nashville public school shortly following the Brown vs Board of Education case, as well as sponsoring 23 African Americans charged with murder following race riots. All were acquitted . He worked NAACP, and defended many African Americans and continued to serve as a desegregation lawyer heading into the 1960s. He became a gratus attorney for the students involved in peaceful protest sit ins, which eventually led to his house being dynamited shortly after. He was deeply involved in politics, and narrowly lost a bid to the Tennessee Supreme Court in 1962, but was a Nashville City Council member until retiring in 1971
 house following bombing

Looby

Part 2: In "The Dentist" the theme of enduring suffering to portray bravery is what stood out the most to me. Curt Lemon purposely gets his perfectly fine tooth yanked out to show his comrades that he is no longer scared of the dentist, and that he has overcome his act of fainting with a prominent display of manliness. The writing was the best when O' Brien says "He fainted even before the man touched him" (83). I question and can't understand the extent of desperation someone is driven to to show bravery, as seen in Lemon's healthy tooth being pulled.
In "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" the theme of insanity struck me as outstanding. One of the soldier's girlfriends comes to Vietnam, and she eventually becomes more and more involved in the war, aiding and helping the soldiers. Eventually, she stops paying attention to her man and indulges in the war at all times, eventually disappearing into the mountains, never to return. O'Brien writes, "..when they were taken under fire, Mary Anne would stand quietly and watch tracer rounds snap by, a little smile at her lips..." (110). This powerful quote shows how war mentally tears down a human.