Floyd Bedford was a fellow student at Alaska Methodist University. Our backgrounds and lifestyles were as different as Night and Day. I being from Connecticut and with a prep school background while Floyd was from the South Side of Chicago having received an education from the streets. Floyd liked to dress exquisitely even going to class while blue jeans and a flannel shirt was fine by my standards. I was a quiet reflective sort. Floyd was boisterous. While Floyd smoked marijuana,he couldn't be considered as one of the school's infamous potheads and often said to me when we were together was "Get that damn reefer out of my face!"
While the differences were pronounced,we were linked as the only blacks on campus at Alaska Methodist University and became friends largely because of that reason.
Sometimes the cultural differences between us frustrated Floyd. "Daniels sometimes I think the only reason I'm friends with you is because you're the only nigger on campus!" (In the 70's it was okay for blacks to use the N word when speaking to each other..this was the era of Richard Pryor) Nevertheless,we'd hang out and he found my circle of friends on campus as interesting as any.
Our reasons for attending AMU were different as well. My road to the White House was going to be through getting elected Governor of Alaska and attending AMU was part of the plan. Floyd was chasing a woman from Chicago who joined the military and found herself stationed at Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage. Sometimes that relationship seemed to go well,but at other times,it didn't go well and she also had military engagements that kept her away and during those times well,Floyd wasnt averce to pursuing and spending time with other women.
AMU was the first place in my lifetime where I seemed to "fit in" culturally and socially. I had studied Alaskan culture long before I attended,so much so that many Alaskans were surprised that I was not born or raised there. Alaskans are very provencial and can be indifferent at best to "outsiders" AMU was a college attended mostly by Alaska natives. After being considered a "nerd" or "outsider" for so many years,it was a weird new experience having a social life and even weirder observing Floyd with his Southside Chicago ways as the "outsider" although my circle of friends tended to be pretty accepting. Floyd appreciated that,but there was this problem: My circle of friends was a representation of the man to woman ratio in Alaska which was 8 men to 1 woman and while there were a couple women in my circle,they were either involved with someone else or they too "smoked too much reefer" in his estimation. Besides,we tended to get into what he called "hippie talk" mostly discussions about Alaska politics and philosophy..a lot of us during that time were reading the likes of Carlos Casteneda,Kahlil Gibran and Thoreau. This type of talk would even follow us to the bar we would attend on weekends-The Pines,a dive bar not too far off campus serving cheap drinks and featuring 70's rock cover bands.. No dress code. This frustrated Floyd to no end. He preferred some of the downtown Anchorage clubs..places where he had a better chance of showing off his wardrobe as well as the dance moves he learned in Chicago nightclubs and on Soul Train. He also had a better chance at picking up women in those clubs.
There was onc club where he would never bring me or fellow students. It was called The Black Orchid. It was attended mostly by black servicemen and women stationed on the Air Force and Army bases. That's where he and his Air Force woman friend would attend.
One New Years Eve,either Floyd and his girlfriend had split up again or she was away on assignment.I dont remember now. All I know is Floyd was going to spend New Years Eve at the Black Orchid. He was determined not to spend New Years Eve alone and to accomplish that goal,he could not be seen walking into the Black Orchid alone and the only "acceptable" partner to accomplish that goal was me. Asking me to go with him was not an easy task for him. I was not the most ideal person for him to bring,but I guess he felt bringing me was better than bringing anyone White,Eskimo,Tlingit Indian,or Japanese. That's what my social circle looked like on campus.
It also created another set of problems for him. 1.My clothes did not fit the dress code 2. My hair,while being in an Afro was more like the Jimi Hendrix wild style. Once I agreed to go with him,Floyd took matters into his own hands to rectify the problem. In the early 70's Anchorage Alaska's black population was miniscule and the only black barbers were on the base. Floyd had a pass to Elmendorf and he used it to bring me to one of the black barbers. By being on base,Floyd was able to knock out two birds with one stone as in the military commissary there were outfits deemed "acceptable" to wear to the Black Orchid. Floyd covered the cost of the hair trim and shape as well as the jumpsuit. I now was transformed into this Earth,Wind,and Fire like image. We were now ready to appear at the Black Orchid.
Unlike at The Pines,where men and women were as likely to walk in alone as with a group,it was clear that no one went to the Black Orchid alone. It was either couples or groups.After scouting the bar,Floyd discovered a table with 2 women and 2 empty chairs. That is where we sat. We were barely seated when the DJ played a particular song. The three of them immediately hit the dance floor. I sat at the table and ordered a beer when the waitress came to my table. Floyd was dancing with his newly found friend and her friend wasnt on the dance floor alone for too long before she had a partner. When the series of songs had ended,the man dancing with her started to return to our table but turned around when he saw me sitting there.
I must have broken some sort of protocal because when Floyd and friends returned from dancing,I guess I was supposed to let Floyd order a round for everyone first. He scowled and I could just hear him mumbling "the only reason.." under his breath again,but he couldn't say it out loud. He had a woman to impress and I was to be his foil.
I quietly listened as the three of them engaged in small talk,then the music started again.Once again the three of them jumped onto the dance floor. I remained at the table, finishing the beer I had ordered and enjoying the second one that Floyd had bought. I found wearing the jumpsuit a little out of my comfort zone,but in my own way,I was enjoying observing the Floyd he would tell me stories about when he lived in Chicago. It was too bad others didn't quite see it that way. When they returned from the dance floor,one began to get the sense that my ongoing silence was becoming a problem. My senses were confirmed when Floyd's new found friend with her friend sitting next to me asked me a question.
"What are into?"
For a moment I found my element.Just recently through one of my friends,I had discovered the writings of Jean-Paul Sartre and found myself fascinated with his Existential Philosophy. At the time I had also been digging the writings of Hermann Hesse,and don't get me started on Thoreau!
In sharing all this at with Floyd and guest at the table,I am also sharing the enthusiam I'm receiving in reading the Sartre play NO EXIT.
I was soon seeing my exit from the Black Orchid for after completing my explainations and just before the music was to start again,Floyd grabbed me and pulled me away from the table. He then slipped me a $20 bill,had the bartender call a cab for me.
Floyd "GO! I cant have you here! You'll ruin my game!" "GO!"
For many years after leaving Alaska,Floyd was one of the few AMU students who kept in touch. 20 years ago,I stayed with him while attending the Chicago Blues Festival. I was living in Minneapolis then,and after leaving Alaska,Floyd had returned to the South Side of Chicago. He greeted me coming off the Greyhound Bus. He observed my dreadlocks "You crazy nigger Still! I know you're smoking reefer!" He did find it fascinating and in keeping with my talks on Rastafari.
One night we were returning to his apartment when 2 men came running towards us.As they approached us and passed us,we heard them saying "Respect to the Rasta.Rastafari." Seconds later we heard gunshots.Floyd then turned to me and said "That Rasta stuff gave us some protection,we were supposed to get shot"
In this day and age of technology and social media,I have attempted to find Floyd again. Before social media came into existence,I tried reaching him through the telephone operator.His previous number had been disconnected.
I hope he's alright.
