A00444 - 2025 Jenkins Family Update
Jenkins Family Update
2025
2025 was quite a year! The year began with a New Year's dinner at my house in Fairfield on January 5. The dinner guests included my sister Evelyn and her boyfriend Art; my ex-wife Monica; my brother Garry, his daughter Katrina, and his granddaughter Amara; my oldest daughter Camille along with her husband Jeremy and Jeremy's friend Ryan, my son Ryan and my youngest daughter Cristina. It was a grand time with the standard two sets of tables. One for the older generation and one for the younger one. It was great three generation dinner and I was extremely happy to be able to host it.
For the Martin Luther King Day, I went over to Monica and Cristina's house on the other side of Fairfield where Monica and my son Ryan were present. Over a Marie Callendar's Chocolate Pie, I celebrated once again being Free at Last, Free at Last, Thank God Almighty, I am Free at Last!
Due to the lingering effects of my arthritis, I did not travel much during the months of February, March and April. The most exciting events were attending miscellaneous medical appointments. What fun!
The one notable except to my rather dreary existence during these three months was a dinner engagement with some of my Amherst College connections on March 29. First, there was a dinner with Amina Merritt, Class of 1980; Jack Hailey, Class of 1967; and Matt Randolph, Class of 2016 at the Grand Lake Kitchen in Oakland. Matt Randolph was a PhD student at Stanford who had authored an article entitled "Remembering Dunbar". His article provided a wealth of information about previously unknown Dunbar graduates who later attended Amherst College. I wanted to thank him in person for adding a great number of names to my Amherst College Black Alumni Memorial List.
After dinner at the Grand Lake Kitchen, Amina, Jack and I left to attend a concert at the Meyhouse in Palo Alto. It was billed as "Allen Harris: Poetry of Jazz" but for us the main draw the accompaniment of Mr. Harris by our own Freddie Bryant, Amherst College, Class of 1987, Amherst College Copeland Fellow 2004, and Amherst College Honorary Degree 2013. Freddie and I go back to 2017 when he graced the Memorial Service I conducted with his rendition of "Amazing Grace". It was beautiful.
While Amina, Jack and I nibbled on a rather magnificent piece of fish, we were enthralled with the poetic words of Allen Harris accompanied by the mellifluous acoustic guitar of Freddie Bryant. After the concert, Amina, Jack and I met up with Freddie and his wife, Heather White. Heather was originally in the Amherst College Class of 1980 but transferred to Harvard University where she pursued her studies in Mandarin and other Asian studies. In 2017, when I first met her, she had recently finished directing a documentary about the working conditions in China. The film is titled Complicit
Complicit
2017 1:29:50
We five Amherst alums chatted for a bit and even took a group photo. It was indeed one of the more memorable evenings of the year.
My first major travel exercise occurred in May when I returned to Oklahoma for the first time in seventeen years. The event was a family reunion in Boley, Oklahoma, in time for the Boley Black Cowboy Rodeo. Boley is the historical black town in Oklahoma
Boley is my mother's hometown. Over the years, I have been proud of the heritage that Boley provided even though the last time I saw Boley in 1987, there was not much to recommend it. Fast forward some 38 years and I was surprised by the change. In 1987, the houses and buildings appeared to be in a state of decline. However, with influx of a new business (Smokaroma) and a new correctional facility (John Lilley Correctional Center), Boley has begun to experience a rebirth. Only this time it is not as an all-black town, some whites have moved in and have integrated the community with new brick homes.
As for the Rodeo itself, it is my understanding that Boley was the originator of the Black Cowboy Rodeo and that, as of 2025, the tradition was 122 years old
For me seeing the parade down the streets of Boley and then to see the actual rodeo events were moments of great pride. Having grown up in the town of Victorville, California, which is known for Roy Rogers, the King of the Cowboys, and Dale Evans. Queen of the West, I have a long history of admiring cowboys and the cowboy ethos. Seeing the Black Cowboys riding their horses down the main street of Boley was a fulfillment of dreams that began over sixty-five years ago when The Lone Ranger and The Cisco Kid were my heroes.
Since I was in Oklahoma, I felt obliged to visit the site of the 1995 Murrah Building Bombing. I first went in 1997 when I returned to Oklahoma to attend my grandmother's funeral. At the time, it was a somber place still showing signs of the scars left over from the bombing. I went a second time in 2008 when I returned to Oklahoma to attend my aunt's funeral. By then, chairs honoring each of the victims of the bombing had been erected and the nascent museum had begun showing the history of the bombing and its aftermath.
This time when I visited the site, it was the 30th anniversary year of the bombing and the entire site had been transformed to remember and to partially understand the most horrific act of domestic terrorism to have occurred on American soil. This time the building that once housed the Journal Record newspaper had been converted into the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum and it provided a profound and staggering record of that terrible day in 1995.
For me the most profound exhibit in the Museum was the recording of a board meeting that was occurring across the street from the Murrah Building at the time of the blast. To hear the shattering sound of the blast on the meeting recorder was stunning. It was a somber time with much to remember.
The next week I was in Amherst, Massachusetts, attending my 50th Year Class Reunion. It was good to see many of my classmates and especially to recreate the iconic photo on the rail outside the Octagon with my senior year roommates, Dave Mooty, Jim Kennedy, John Harriman, and Rob Carver. However, this Reunion was also significant because I performed my Memorial Service for the first time during a Class Reunion Weekend. With my junior year roommate, Chris Webster, in attendance, along with the 96 year old Janice Denton and her children and grandchild, this was a special Memorial Service for me because along with reading the list of 215 deceased black alumni, faculty, staff and friends, I was also able to pay a special tribute to my mother Lillie Jenkins, for her spiritual support of my attending Amherst College even after having a pause in the Fall of 1972.
I had to a pay special tribute to Mom because she worked in the George Air Force Base Dining Hall as a Dining Hall attendant from 1965 to 1975, the key years for my education. I think one of her proudest moments was seeing me not only receive my Amherst diploma but also seeing me receive a special recognition with the Robert Leeds Social Service Medal as part of the Commencement Ceremony in June of 1975. Only the Lord knows how often Mom had to pray to get me through those Amherst years. And only the Lord knows how much she still watches over me now. As part of my tribute to Mom, I had the following song played, the same song that was played at Mom's memorial service on December 10, 2010:
I celebrated Juneteenth with Amina Merritt, Amherst College Class of 1980, and Jack Hailey, Amherst College Class of 1967. We again met at the Well Season Restaurant in Davis. This time I had presents for both Amina and Jack. I presented each with a binder containing the initial bios for my proposed Amherst College Black Alumni Living Memorial Project. Jack, in particular was pleased to receive this gift. Over the course of the year, he would prove to be invaluable in helping me collate the many biographical posts I have made concerning the deceased Black Alumni, Faculty, Staff and Friends. This project would take on greater significance when the Amherst College Racial Reckoning Project took on the task of finding photos for the profiles. By the time of the Project's official unveiling for the Black Alumni Weekend that was held in November, the one large binder had grown to four, and the student presentations of the project were, I am told, a huge success. I suspect looking back on this year, the initiation of this Living Memorial Project will have been one the most important writing projects that I have ever done. Of course, currently the Memorial List itself has only about 240 names. There are now some 2400 Black Alumni alive. Over time, the Living Memorial Project will only grow. But for me, it is satisfying to know that I began the Project. ... and that the Project stems from a Divine Impulse that came to me some 53 years ago. It is truly amazing.
The weekend after the Juneteenth Luncheon, I hit the road for my annual trip to Las Vegas. Ostensibly, the trip was designed to facilitate my attendance at a timeshare presentation. However, I have developed a practice of also using the relatively cheap hotel cost to spend three or four days in Sin City.
My time in Las Vegas was relatively uneventful. I attended the Wyndham timeshare presentation, and I spent some time in a nearby casino testing how long it would take to lose my $20 gambling quota. The highlight of the trip actually occurred after I left Las Vegas and traveled first to Victorville, where I spent a short time with my brother Kevin. After a convivial couple of hours with Kevin, I went up to the Desert View Cemetery to spend some time with Mom and Dad, and to reflect on times from long ago.
After a few moments with Mom and Dad, I hit the road (Highway 395) and drove towards Bakersfield. At Kramer Junction,
I made a left and traveled on Highway 58 towards Bakersfield. Traveling through Boron, North Edwards, California City, and Mojave, I drove up Highway 58 to the town of Tehachapi. After decades of driving through this town on my way from Victorville to Fairfield, for the first time, I would spend a night in Tehachapi.
I had long to stay in Tehachapi ever since I learned that it was the town where Jack Palance, the actor known for his roles in the movies "Shane" and "City Slickers', called home.
Tehachapi proved to be a quiet town and, unfortunately, the museum was closed. I wandered over to souvenir shop and found a tall crystal with an angel engraved. I purchased it and set if before the photo of my parents in my living room.
I left Tehachapi early and rapidly drove to and through Bakersfield heading to my next destination of interest --- McFarland.
McFarland is the town made famous by the film "McFarland, USA" which memorialized the efforts made by the largely Hispanic cross-country runners of McFarland High School who overcame huge odds to become state champions not just once but nine times over a sixteen-year span.
McFarland is a very small town populated mainly by Mexican farmworkers. I stopped by McFarland High School and noticed that diagonally across the street from the high school there is a large water tank dedicated to the nine state championship teams. I went over to the tank and noted that each member of each team had his name listed on the water tower -- a lasting legacy of glory for those who ran so far for so long. But, in my own mind, I reflected on the fact that the common ingredient for those nine state championships was one man, the coach, Jim White
Sometimes, it really is the presence of one person who can make a difference in a town and in the lives of so many.
After McFarland, I drove to Allensworth
for my annual pilgrimage to the all-black town that was ambitiously proposed and founded by Colonel Allensworth in the early 1900s. In recent years, efforts have been made to restore the town to its former glory. Many of the houses have been restored and the facilities in support of the Colonel Allensworth State Park have been upgraded. It makes me happy to see such progress being made to make history live.
In July, I went to Carson City, Nevada, for my annual soaking exercises at the Carson Hot Springs
It was marvelous. An added treat was reintroducing myself to the pleasure of the strawberry shakes produced by the Del Taco next door to my hotel. Marvelous indeed.
The next week, on July 16, 2025, we had the inaugural zoom call pertaining to the Amherst College Living Memorial Book Project. With Allen Hart, Class of 1982, and special assistant to the President, coordinating the call, and Julia Carroll, of the Amherst College Racial Reckoning Project chiming in, Tony Jackson, Class of 1976, Jack Hailey, Class of 1967, and me began the joint effort which four months later would lead to the first presentation of the assembled pages.
The inaugural zoom call was followed up on August 12, 2025, with Allen Hart along with Katie DeBeer from the Alumni Office along with Tony Jackson, Jack Hailey, and me continuing to flesh out how the Living Memorial Book Project was to take shape. There was much work that would need to be done.
The next week, I traveled to Genoa, Nevada, on August 18, 2025, for my annual week of soaking at the David Walley Hot Springs in Genoa. Although my stay was truncated from seven to a mere four days, again, the time spent in the pools was quite marvelous.
The day after my return from Genoa, I hosted a dinner at Trader Vics in Emeryville. The reason for the dinner was to serve as a bon voyage for Matt Randolph, Amherst College, Class of 2016, as he was departing Stanford University in Palo Alto for the Emerald City of Seattle, Washington, where he would begin his post-doctoral career at the University of Washington. Matt is the author of a piece called "Remembering Dunbar" which listed the names of Dunbar graduates who attended Amherst College. Many of the names I knew but many others I did not. I was greatly appreciative of the work that Matt had done, and I was excited by the prospect of the work that he has still to do.
Accompanying Matt was another Amherst College grad, Itai Brand-Thomas, Amherst College Class of 2015, a biology major. They joined me and Amina Merritt, Class of 1980, and Jack Hailey, Class of 1967 for a rather spirited dinner at one of my favorite bayshore restaurants. These multi-generational Amherst College get togethers are becoming some of my favorite moments of the year.
After soaking at David Walley and enjoying the company of fellow Amherst College Mammoths, the next week, I ventured down to Monterey for the Labor Day Renaissance Weekend. I had not been there since 2021, so I was looking forward to once again be amongst the best and brightest that America has to offer. Of course, I was invited to speak of topics pertaining to Islam. But I also got to moderate a panel on innovative developments pertaining municipalities. That was rather fun.
The Renaissance Weekend in Monterey was a highlight for the year, but not just because of the intellectual confab amongst the best and the brightest. I invited my daughters Cristina and Jennifer along with my ex-wife Monica to join me in Monterey as a sort of family vacation that would also celebrate Cristina's birthday. During my free afternoon on Saturday, August 30, I took all three of them on the Seventeen Mile Drive with a stop at the Spanish Bay Beach where Cristina picked up a souvenir rock
We continued along the route to the Pebble Beach Golf Course. We have a tradition of having Cristina's birthday dinner at the restaurant in the Pebble Beach Lodge. It is a rather "privileged" outing that my youngest daughter enjoys. And, on that day, so did I.
The next day, during my afternoon Renaissance Weekend break, I again treated the three of them to lunch at a nice restaurant out at the Carmel Valley Mall area. This too was a treat.
I do not know why, but such a family vacation some twenty years after Monica and I divorced seems rather blessed. We may not be able to live together, but, occasionally, for a few hours it is indeed possible to have a good time and enjoy each other's company. That is no small miracle.
The weekend after the Monterey Renaissance Weekend, I hosted a luncheon at the Well Season Restaurant in Davis, California. The event was a welcoming celebration for my Cousin Ren's granddaughter, Khoury Williams, who had just begun her doctoral studies at the University of California at Davis. Khoury is a graduate of Howard University and is a doctoral student in physics at UC Davis. I welcomed Khoury, her mother Tracey Williams, Tracey's half-sister, and my Cousin Ren. It was refreshing to see my Compton cousins and to see Khoury pursuing her dreams at Davis.
Well done!
The rest of September was rather quiet. As for October, I had planned on visiting my daughter Camille and her husband Jeremy in Post Falls, Idaho. However, the turmoil in the skies and in the airports made the prospects of traveling at that time unappealing so I stayed home.
Towards the end of October, I received news that my beloved brother-in-law Charles Manning had died. He was 81 years old and he apparently died while in his sleep. Charles lived in Henderson, Nevada for over 30 years. So, while being averse to traveling long distances, I buckled up and drove ten hours to Las Vegas on Thursday, October 23 so that I could attend the funeral services set for the next day.
Held at the Palm Mortuary Eastern in Las Vegas, the services were more a celebration of life. The program obituary sets forth some of the highlights of the life of Charles Edward Manning (June 23, 1944 - October 9, 2025):
"Charles Edward Manning was born on June 23rd, 1944, in Texarkana, Arkansas. Affectionately called "Charles Edward" of "Yo-Yo" by his family and "Chief" by his friends, he was born the fourth child to Marie Crayton and John Wesley Manning.
"When Charles was a young boy, his Aunt Esther moved to California from Arkansas to have a better life. Once settled, Aunt Esther called her sister Marie telling her the opportunities available for black people in California and encouraged her to move as well. Marie moved; however, Charles chose to stay behind with his grandmother, Nora. But Charles was very close to his mother and soon joined her where they settled in Venice, California.
"In Venice, Charles attended Mark Twain Junior High School and Venice High School. Charles was an excellent student and star athlete. In 1960, as a freshman at Venice HS, Charles made the varsity basketball team and played the Forward position (#14). That same year, he was designated captain of the varsity basketball team and was awarded Letterman of the Venice Gondoliers in 1960 and 1961. In 1962, Charles made the All-Western League Basketball Team.
"Charles graduated from Venice High School in 1962 and acquired his first job as a Laboratory Technician in a medical laboratory where he cleaned lab glassware and equipment. {He later became a technician in the laboratory, analyzing blood samples.}
"Charles loved to have fun and was known to be the cool cat in the room amongst his family and friends. On any given occasion, he could be found doing his infamous dance "The Skate". With his smooth moves, he would glide forward, pop that knee, take it back and move it forward. That was always requested at every function and Charles gladly obliged.
"As Charles continued his journey through life, he met and began dating, Gwendolyn Marie Jenkins. Charles and Gwen were married in 1968. They remained married of 24 years. From this union, three daughters were born: Nicole Denise, Darla Yu-Shin and Charlene Evette.
"Charles loved his daughters. You would always find him doting on each of his girls. As a child, Charles vowed that if ever had a family, he would never leave their side and he would protect them and provide all the things he never had as child.
"As a provider, Charles maintained his career in the medical laboratory field but also obtained his California Real Estate License. Obtaining this license, allowed Charles to provide the "extras" inlife including the purchase of an RV that he simply enjoyed! Charles would pack his family up and head to places such as Lake Tahoe, Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park, Salton Sea, Las Vegas and Winterhaven, California, which was his destination of choice. Charles was an avid fisherman. He would often go deep sea fishing, but Charles founding fishing for catfish and seabass (which he called "Sweet Meat") off the riverbanks in Winterhaven was his favorite.
"In 1992, Charles divorced and moved to Las Vegas with his youngest daughter Charlene, where he purchased "The Ponderosa". Moving to Las Vegas provided a new and refreshing start for Charles. In Las Vegas, he continued his journey working in various pathology laboratories including APL/Quest Laboratories where he advanced from a Lead Analytical Technician to Supervisor of Toxicology Hair Testing.
"In 2003, Charles decided to make a career change and returned to the real estate industry as a Commercial Mortgage Broker.
"In 2011, Charles retired and shortly thereafter realized the retirement life was not for him. He rejoined the workforce as a Paratransit Driver where he officially retired in 2022.
"Charles loved his family and friends. Throughout life, he was always a beacon of light and wisdom; providing guidance and support to anyone who needed it.
"Charles Edward Manning passed away on Thursday, October 9th, 2025, in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is preceded in death by his parents John Wesley Manning and Marie Crayton, sisters Lenora Payne, Betty Sue Cheatham (Manning), Myra Elaine Cigar (Manning), Brothers Terry Wayne Peels, and Jerry Isaiah Peels. Charles leaves to cherish his memories, his daughters; Nicole Manning-Cooper (Anthony) of Houston, Texas; Darla Manning-Finn (Darrell) of Las Vegas; and Charlene Manning-Walker (Keith) of Las Vegas, Nevada. He also leaves behind his granddaughter, Kylee Dallas Walker of Las Vegas, Nevada; his grandson, Elijah Thedford of Houston, Texas; and his cousin-grandson, Brandon Thompson of Las Vegas, Nevada; his siblings Faye Dale of El Dorado, Arkansas; and Jimmy Manning of El Dorado, Arkansas, along with a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, extended family and friends."
I was the first to speak at the service. I reminisced that Charles seemed to be the son that my Dad always wanted. He loved sports. He loved to fish. He loved an alcoholic beverage ... or two. He was affable and great company. And he had style. When he and my sister Gwen got married, they drove away in Charles' green 1965 Ford Mustang ... a classic car for a classy guy.
Even though Charles and Gwen divorced in 1992, and Charles even got remarried, for a while, in the late 1990s, he always remained a part of the family. He attended all of the major family gatherings and was present at many of the annual Las Vegas get togethers that I sponsored once my sister moved to Las Vegas.
Charles was a great guy and a great father. He is missed by us all.
My brother Kevin read some scripture at the service, and my cousin Cyril spoke. And the three daughters were there with their spouses along with Charles' lone granddaughter Kylee. The service was quite well done.
Afterwards, we had the repast at Charles house. I stopped to grab a plate, but I could not stay long. I had made arrangements for a stay at a place in Indio and that was some 300 miles away.
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