Gregory S. Kearse Editor/Writer – Scottish Rite Journal

GREGORY S. KEARSE EDITOR/WRITER – SCOTTISH RITE JOURNAL In a continuing series of interviews with brothers who are prolific workers in the endeavors of freemasonry; the editor of The Phylaxis Magazine, Alton G. Roundtree, interviewed Brother Gregory Sashi Kearse. 1. CONGRATULATIONS ON BEING NAMED THE NEW EDITOR OF THE SCOTTISH RITE JOURNAL Thanks Al. First, let me say that I am very pleased to have been named the new editor/writer of the Scottish Rite Journal. The appointment is both a unique Masonic benchmark and personal milestone in my professional career as a journalist, editor, and writer. This opportunity offers me access to cutting edge Masonic literature and a world-class Masonic library and archive second to none. The number of original volumes, personal papers of America’s founders, and archival relics and memorabilia is staggering and breathtaking. I feel like the proverbial kid in a candy shop when I go to work. Second, being the first African-American to hold this vaunted position is of course a tremendous privilege and opportunity. I think I bring to the table a set of skills, core competencies, voice and perspective to the organization that is unusual, perhaps even unique on some levels. However, I will hasten to add that I had already set new ground by being published in the Journal in 1997 when it was edited by John Bottjer who pre- ceded S. Brent Morris. This was early in my progress in freemasonry as I had only been raised in June of 1996. I have also had original Prince Hall research papers published in Heredom and the Plumbline over the last few years and am a long-time member of the Scottish Rite Research Society. I don’t know for sure but I believe I was one of the first Prince Hall masons to publish academic papers in those two main- stream Masonic research publications. But despite that, I do not consider myself a trailblazer in the larger sociologic-cultural-historic context. I am just the brother who passionately came into the light wanting to share what I discovered there. That process describes my overarching philosophical goal as a human being, to learn and to teach. 2. YOUR MASONIC JOURNEY. DESCRIBE IT A colleague at Howard University wore this Masonic ring that fascinated me. Finally, I asked him what it was. He was very secretive but finally told me it was evidence of his membership in the fraternity. This fascinated me. So I purchased and read quite a few books on freemasonry, its history and practice. It is almost paradoxical that my colleague was a member of what we would consider to be a bogus or clandestine lodge. Ironically, he introduced me to a friend of his who was a member of the Prince Hall Jurisdiction. Because of my passion and clearly defined goals, I rose through the ranks pretty quickly. This is not unusual in our Jurisdic- Continued on Page 12 Page 11 • 2nd Qtr. 2016 tion. Probably because of chronic thin lines throughout the craft and jurisdiction, I became Worshipful Master of the lodge after only four years. I do not profess any particular leadership or charismatic quality, only that I always took the work seri- ously and had a natural and long-standing passion since childhood to learn. I broke all kinds of attendance records in the New York City public school system. Also, you cannot be taught self-motivation or enthusiasm. You have to bring those sorts of things to the table. For example, I attempted the middle chamber lecture in my second year because the sitting senior deacon moved from the jurisdiction. As a fellowcraft I heard one of the brothers deliver it and I said out loud, “I want to do that.” I have since delivered the middle chamber lecture six or seven times, perhaps more. I have lost count. I can’t seem to get it out of my head, ha-ha. It’s both the curse and reward for unbridled enthusiasm! 3. WHAT IS YOUR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND? I have an undergraduate degree in English from Howard University. That is kind of weird because I declared physics and chemistry as my major when I matriculated in 1967. Throughout high school I thought I was going to be a scientist. Anyway, long story short, I declared my major as English in my sophomore year and minored in education. I had decided that I was going to be a teacher. However, sometime during my sophomore year I decided that I was going to be a journalist and not a teacher. So I changed my minor to African-American studies under the tutelage of the legendary Dr. Russell Adams. Being a former athlete (basketball and track) at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, New York, I tried out for the basketball team. I was one of two final cuts for the freshman team. That year I became a staff member of the Hilltop newspaper. One of the residents of Drew Hall was the sports editor of the Hilltop. Of course I wrote about sports and had a popular column called Time Out. I also was somewhat of a film buff so I wrote movie reviews. My first review was of the classic film Easy Rider. I am now an avid film collector. One of the cheerleaders whom I had done a story on told me that my article about her appeared in the Washington Afro-American newspaper. I eventually had a martial arts column in both the Hilltop and Afro-American newspaper. I never got paid. Go figure. I went on to get a master’s degree (some years later, part time) in communications research. I was interested in language acquisition so figured out how students, agencies, and governments could teach methodologies on how to acquire language in a multi-cultural environment. I think over the years various intelligence agencies used my research methodology to train their nationalized overseas assets. Before becoming a book editor at Howard University Press, I had spent time at Random House in trade sales. Prior to that I had a summer internship at the New York Times. I spent a year at WABC-TV in New York as a writer trainee and desk assistant, producing the six and eleven o’clock news shows for anchors Roger Grimsby, Bill Beutel, and reporters like Geraldo Rivera. I spent a year at Time Magazine as a research assistant. Subsequently, I then spent four years at Mutual Broadcasting as a news editor and writer. During that tenure, I produced an interview show hosted by legendary newsman Ed Castleberry called the Soul of Entertainment. I had the opportunity to interview television and movie stars and entertainers. Some of the folks I interviewed were Gladys Knight, the Pointer Sisters, and actor Glynn Turman. Glynn now co-stars with Don Cheadle on the hit show “House of Lies.” 4. YOU ARE AN AVID CHESS PLAYER My father taught me the game one afternoon when I was fourteen. I developed an interest and grasped the concepts fairly quickly. But oddly enough it wasn’t until I had just turned thirty that a real passion and thirst developed. It was not anything specifically which ignited my passion. I began reading books and playing in tournaments. In fact, my very first tournament I won the unrated prize. I always tell people that my first official United States Chess Federation rating was 1776. That was a very interesting year in American history. I am not a Brainiac but simply had a knack for making and executing sophisticated chess ideas. In 1985 I played in a world-class tournament called the New York Open. I was the lowest rated player in my sec- tion but I scored 6.5 out of 8 games. That score made me a United States rated chess expert. Some tournaments later, having beaten several masters and experts I became a candidate master. I have since played only a few tournaments per year. It is more recreational and social than goal-oriented. It is highly improbable that I will make master, but I still enjoy the competi- tion. On occasion I write about chess. I wrote the seminal article on the history of black chess masters back in the late 1980s. My personal friends include Grand Master Maurice Ashley (the first African American Grandmaster) and the now deceased legend, International Master Emory Tate. I want to do a book one day on them. We now have some black young guns that are quite extraordinary and highly touted. When the young black female Baraka Shabazz was on the scene in the 1980s and 1990s I wrote an article about her for Essence Magazine. I still love the game. Actually I was on my way to Paris in September when I got the call to become editor of the Scottish Rite Journal. I had been immersed in learning the French language for the past eight or nine months. There was a chess tournament there that I was Page 12 • 2nd Qtr. 2016 interested in playing in. Anyway, I will continue my acquisition of French. Having learned to read, write, and speak Spanish at a fairly fluent level, learning French has been relatively easy. Although I must confess that my French grammar is atrocious despite the fact that I know many, many words. 5. THE FUTURE. WHAT IS IN STORE FOR YOU? That’s a good question Al. While I am very busy as the editor of the Scottish Rite Journal, I do have a couple of books in my head.

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