Encyclopedia of Arkansas History/Courtesy Jean Cockroft
GRIF STOCKLEY

Guy Lancaster at the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History brings news of the death of Grif Stockley, the lawyer and author of important books on the dark racial history of Arkansas. He was 78 and had been in poor health for some time.

The Encyclopedia’s entry on Stockley tells the story of the Memphis-born Stockley, who grew up in Marianna. The Peace Corps and Army duty preceded law school, which led him to a 31-year career as a Legal Services lawyer, as well as further work for the Disability Rights Center and the ACLU. He also began writing, including five lawyer mystery novels. But it was non-fiction where Stockley left a lasting mark. He built a record of the kind of unpleasant stuff that many in the Arkansas legislature would prefer school children not hear about, lest they learn that systemic racism has stained Arkansas for centuries. His books included Blood in Their Eyes: The Elaine Race Massacres of 1919, and a biography of civil rights crusader Daisy Bates. Also:

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The Butler Center published his book Race Relations in the Natural State, written for use in state schools, in 2007. In 2008, the University of Arkansas Press published Ruled by Race: Black/White Relations in Arkansas from Slavery to the Present, an expanded version of his previous book. In 2017, he published Black Boys Burning: The 1959 Fire at the Arkansas Negro Boys Industrial School, the first book on the subject, through the University Press of Mississippi. A revised edition of Blood in Their Eyes was released by the University of Arkansas Press in 2020. Later that year, Stockley released a memoir titled Hypogrif in Bubbaville: A Memoir of Race, Class and Ego.

Lancaster recalled Grif in an item he posted on a history listserve:

I know we all have a lot of memories of him. For my part, I met him first when he came to the Delta Symposium in the early 2000s to talk about the Elaine Massacre. I became friends with him when he started as the Dee Brown Fellow here at CALS. A few years after that, he served as an outside person on my dissertation committee, as he was very excited at my research into sundown towns and racial cleansing. I remember my committee giving me a bit of a hard time, as is their wont, while Grif hanged back a bit, as he often did when among those he called “real historians.” At last, he asked if he might ask a question of me. I thought I was in for a bit of relief. A few minutes later, I realized that, although Grif had been my friend for a few years, he had been a trained courtroom lawyer for far longer. So it goes. Friends challenge each other and make each other stronger.

I have a fitting memory of the last time I saw Grif, in the fall of 2019. We spoke when we happened to choose the same time to view artist V.L. Cox’s “Break Glass: A Conversation to End Hate” exhibit at the Delta Cultural Center in Helena-West Helena. This was shortly before the ceremony to dedicate the monument commemorating the elsive Massacre.

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UPDATE: A comment from Wendell Griffen:

Beloved,

Arkansas Times has reported that Grif Stockley, who shared fellowship with us at New Millennium Church during our earlier years, has transitioned to life in God’s love beyond us after a lengthy illness.

We were blessed by his wry humor, plain spoken candor about the impact of white supremacy, and his honest questions about faith. We were blessed by his commitment to serve others with his time and encouragement. We were blessed by the way Grif helped young people.

I owe Grif a tremendous debt. I have long been outspoken about racism, but it was Grif who gently urged me to focus more intensely on white supremacy as the belief system that drives racism in the US and across the world. From that point onward, Grif’s perspective has been central to my public theology and critique of jurisprudence.

Dr. J. Alfred Smith (pastor emeritus of Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland, CA) knew Grif and was blessed to receive, from Grif, Grif’s book about the Elaine Race Massacre (Blood in Their Eyes) when Dr. Smith preached at New Millennium. Dr. Smith has given me permission to share this reflection about Grif. “Through you I came to meet this fearless foe of white supremacy! His kind are in short supply in our morally blind and ethically impoverished age.”

Please remember Grif’s loved ones and thank God for the fellowship New Millennium shared with Grif.

Wendell Griffen

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