Bob Mants: December 14, 2011
Bob Zellner
Bob Mants had something contagious. He possessed a physical bravery that was sometimes breathtaking. He is known for that. But his bravery is not all I am talking about. Crazyhorse was brave beyond all measure battling with encroaching Europeans seeking to take lands belonging to the Sioux and other tribes. Crazyhorse became know for that. That great Native American leader is famous and honored as a leader of his people, however, not just for his bravery in battle, but as a thinker with wisdom and the knowledge of how to achieve his people’s goals.
Crazyhorse, quiet and humble, dreamed of uniting and mobilizing the great Teton Circle of the Sioux Nation. Mants, determined to unite his rural community behind the Black Panther, taught that the combined power of grassroots people could throw off the boot of Southern and American racism.
Courage, combined with both wisdom and humility, is what Bob Mants has. Mants, which is what SNCC people called Bob, had both physical courage and the vision required of a great leader. Endowed by his Creator with the magnetic personality along with a philosophically strong sense of his own personhood, he earned his knowledge and education through hard work and determination. The vision part of his makeup, however, I believe, he caught from SNCC. That, to me, is the contagious part of the puzzle that was Bob Mants.
Bob Mants and Bob Moses shared quietness and a reluctance to stand in the stage lights; that became a powerful leadership tool. Perhaps they acquired such power from our great mentor, Ms Ella J. Baker, the quiet woman who sat by the door. Bob Mants also learned leadership through his experience in and study of Africa. Ms Baker seldom spoke except to “sum up” or condense the sense of the group. Like elders in Native American culture and that of Africa, her power lay not in convincing others of her point of view, but by shining a light on what everyone already agreed to or knew. She often knew we had reached consensus before we did. Ella Baker wasn’t shy about firm leadership when necessary, however, as evidenced by her opinion there was no contradiction between direct action and voter registration. Voter registration and political organizing in Mississippi and Alabama, as Mants understood, was direct action.
Bob Mants was infected by his people’s and the people’s passion for justice. He passed it to fellow freedom sisters and brothers. As Michael (Wright) Oshoosi said in his remembrance, “Bob was a steadfast organizer and his demeanor gave people courage…”
Among my many personal memories of Bob is his willingness to correct people when they are wrong. His quiet demeanor masked a remarkable intellect and a firm pride. We were together at a symposium at Brown University and I was being unusually bombastic, as I can sometimes be. Having been in the North for some time, and having trouble being heard in fast talking Yankee circles, I had unconsciously developed a habit of interrupting people. It seemed necessary if one had anything to say. Mants took exception to my interruptions, needless to say, and told me in no uncertain terms to please wait until he had finished what he had to say before responding. Thank you, my brother.
Power to Mants, the ancestors with whom he dwells, and power to the people for whom he fought!
My deepest condolences go to all of Bob’s extended family. I loved Bob and I did not tell him the last time I saw him.
Bob Zellner
http://www.crmvet.org/mem/mantsb.htm
