The Ambassador of the St. Lawrence

I made the rare decision to watch the national news on CBC tonight and wanted to share this story with you.

On the surface, it's the story of one of the 46 survivors of three US ships thrown off course in a deadly storm and wrecked off the coast of Newfoundland in 1942. It's a tale of bravery and compassion of the residents who risked their lives to save these men, but most of all, it's a story that tells us how racism impacts those who face bigotry.

Lanier Phillips was the grandson of slaves and was raised in Georgia in 1923, in a town ruled by the Klan. Mr. Phillips saw Klansmen ride through his town once a week firing off their pistols and terrorizing people in their homes. In 1929, the Klan burned down the only school for black children.

To escape this life, Phillips joined the Navy, but attitudes there wasn't much different. The Navy was still segregated and African American sailors were only allowed to be messmen, carrying out duties too menial for white sailors.

But that's just to give a bit of background. Here's where the story starts to get interesting.

Phillips was was stationed aboard USS Truxton which along with two other Navy ships ran aground in the storm. One ship was re-floated, but the Truxton and the other ship were broken apart.

"We were about two-hundred yards from shore," he is quoted as saying in an article by Jeff Edwards. "The waves would pick the ship up and slam it down into the rocks. It just broke in two, like you would take a pencil and snap it in half. Crude oil was everywhere. Everybody was covered in oil. It was twenty below zero, and the oil just jelled. It was like tar."

The men didn't know where they were and supposed they might be off the coast of Iceland. The black sailors where warned not to put to shore as they would certainly be lynched if they did.

Phillips decided to take his chances in the last life boat. The other black sailors stayed with the boat and died.

When the survivors reached the shore, they found themselves at the base of a steep cliff covered with ice. One man had the strength to reach the top where he went for help and the villagers of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland rappelled down the sides of the cliff to bring the men to safety.

As was the case with all the white sailors, Phillips was taken into a home and cared for by the women there. White women. As one washed the oil from his skin, she said that she couldn't get the oil from his pores.

"That's my skin," he tried to tell her realizing that she had never seen a black person before.

What was astounding to Phillips what that here he was being cared for with kindness in the home of a white family. Laying in a white family's bed. Eating soup made for him by white hands.

And something changed in him.

For the first time, he realized that he was a person of value. His perspective of himself and his potential were lifted.

Seventeen years after his ordeal, he fought the Navy to demand training. He become the first black sonar technician. He marched with Dr. Martin Luther King and, as a civilian technician worked with underwater submersibles. He continues to travel extensively telling people about his experience and his epiphany. And he tells them about the kind people in the small village of St. Lawrence.

A new destroyer was just launched, named for the Truxton, and Phillips was there. At his insistence so were some of the people from St. Lawrence including the mayor who spoke at the ceremony.

To the people of St. Lawrence, Phillips is their Ambassador to the world.

To me, Phillips' story reminds me of what happens when people believe they have no worth -- like kids in inner city schools who believe they can't succeed, or Native kids who are born from a generation of people who were the victims of the residential school that told them they were nothing good.

We carry our personal truths with us. They impact everything we do -- for better or worse.

Phillips story reminds me how important it is to speak out when we see injustice and to rally against educational systems that tell our young people that they aren't good enough. Like Phillips, people can do wonderful things when they believe they can.

Maybe this isn't a new story, but it's one worth remembering whenever we find ourselves in a situation when we may judge without knowing what truth someone carries with them.

You can watch a clip of the Phillips here.

Colleen