George+Killingsworth

GEORGE KILLINGSWORTH:

My long strange trip since graduation from PSR in 1960: · 1960/61: Worked in Chicago as recreational therapist at the __Psychiatric and__ __Psychosomatic Institute__ .. and on weekends coordinated and directed a retreat center [Pleasant Valley Farm] for the __Chicago City Mission Society__. · Summer ’61: __California Migrant Ministry/National Council of Churches__ … Trained and Led College Student Interns who were deployed to Central Valley Farm Labor Camps for health education and other organizational efforts. We were hosted by Jack Bartlett’s Farm Labor Ministry program in Bakersfield. Had the honor of meeting Cesar Chavez and Saul Alinsky in connection with that work. · 1961/66: Called as __Minister of Immanuel UCC__ in Southeast Los Angeles [Watts]. This was an initiative of the UCC Board of Homeland Ministries to build of a congregation and outreach ministry centered in a church building which had recently been abandoned by a white congregation. Student Interns from across the country where trained [urban plunge] and utilized to build a strong youth outreach program and in a variety of community education and organization efforts. Youth from our church were the first Black students to enroll in an “across the tracks” all white high school [Southgate]. Our church members were heavily involved in non-violent civil rights actions throughout the greater Los Angeles area. We had a particularly strong connection to the L.A. chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality. Members of our church participated in the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer and in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March [introduced to MLK by Andy Young, a treasured memory]. We were in the center of the violence and police brutality during the LA Watts Revolt. Following that uprising funding became available to initiate a variety of social service programs out of our church. We launched a creative arts center/coffee house [Watts Happening] which drew talent from the film industry to train youth in associated arts. · 1966/70: __Alameda County YMCA__ .. worked with the Cal State Hayward Student YMCA and with the West Oakland YMCA. Wrote grants for and led Vista Associates programs which recruited, trained and deployed Student Interns in social service and action programs with community organizations in East and West Oakland and in East Los Angeles. Many of our enrollee/participants were early Black Panther members. This did not bother our funding source [the feds] but did not endear me to the YMCA … thus ended my Y career. · 1970/75__: San Francisco Health Department:__ Developed and Helped Staff a federally funded training program: __New Mental Health Careers__ which enrolled hundreds of paraprofessionals in college accredited courses and on the job training. We operated in five SF Community Health Centers [Chinatown, Hunters Point, Mission, Tenderloin and Western Addition]. This was a gratifying program in that it equipped participants with skills to advance their career and to begin earning academic credits starting them on the path to obtaining academic degrees. · 1975/80: __Region IX HEW/HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement:__ Program Specialist/Analyst managing and monitoring grants and contracts to public and private agencies for social services to refugees: Language and Vocational Training and placement, housing, health services, etc. Most refugees in those years were from Southeast Asia … some from Haiti. I traveled throughout California, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada and Guam. · 1980/90: __Northern California Lutheran Social Services__: Area Coordinator for the “Wood, Weed, Water and Wine” territory: Palo Alto to the Oregon border. Organized congregations to educate themselves regarding social issues and to develop programs to address them. Three initiatives stand out in my memory: Refugee Sponsorship, Disaster Preparation and Relief, and AIDS education, prevention and health services. We hired the first openly gay seminarian out of Pacific Lutheran Seminary [Jeff Johnson] to head the AIDS program. We provided office space and a launching area for the ecumenical Emergency Response Network which mobilized folk for demonstrations relating to US actions in Central America. · 1990 to Present: __Acting and Bagel Delivery:__ In the late 80s [following the end of a 25 year marriage] I renewed and focused on an early interest in performing arts. Wayne Rood planted seeds at PSR with productions of Sartre and Auden [No Exit and For the Time Being]. I studied with the Jean Shelton Studios in San Francisco and was cast in numerous bay area theatre productions [Small roles in Big Theatres and larger roles in Small Theatres]. I bailed from LSS and took a day job delivering for Noah’s Bagels. [delivering daily bread .. an honest job at last] Curiously, both the acting and the bagel delivery got me involved in Labor Union participation at long last. [I had participated in the Sept. ’65 Delano strike/walkout which initiated the Grape Boycott … but, of course I wasn’t a farm worker]. Now I had reason and qualifications to join Actors Equity, Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA … even joined IWW for a few years. I was very active in the effort to form a union at Noah’s [Teamsters] … we failed by one vote .. and reasons were found to fire all who stuck their necks out in that struggle. While I’ve done some film acting … my sparse roles are mostly in small artsy theatres where if we draw a large audience we think we’ve sold out.

That’s it in a nutshell … and it all started with the insidious corruption instilled at PSR 57-60 … Wayne Rood, Hugh Vernon White, Charles McCoy … and, notably, Pierre DeLattre, who during those years headed the UC Berkeley Stiles Hall YMCA and who introduced me to absurdist theatre and mudflat driftwood sculpture. Since graduation PSR has continued to deliver through continuing education courses I’ve enjoyed under Julian Kunnie [a South African Theologian] and most notably Robert McAfee Brown [his Elie Weisel seminar was off the hook!]

Classmates with whom I’ve stayed in touch have prodded and sustained me. as have the dear companeros and colleagues made during my years in Watts ..we called ourselves Young Turks then .. now Old Geezers of course … but with some fire in the belly yet.

Currently, I’m back in Berkeley [the scene of the crime] living in a performing artist kind of collective .. and delighting in my hands on grandfathering of my two grandchildren [8 and 11 yo now … the world’s most perfect grandchildren]. My youngest daughter teaches and dances in New York City and I’ll be presiding at her Walden Pond wedding [to a fantastic aspiring writer] this spring. My son is teaching in Las Vegas and just announced his engagement to another wonderful teacher.

Life is good .. we’re Bushfree and Dollarpoor.