April 2013
n a i l l i v e z n o r B e th
nt Suppleme A newsletter from the
An electronic newsletter from the Department of African African American American and and African African Studies Studies Community Community Extension Extension Center Center
Jackie Robinson, 42, and the Race Man Few People Knew By: Judson L. Jeffries, Ph.D.
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ix months following the fortieth anniversary of his premature death, appears 42, the long awaited Hollywood dramatization of the life of Jackie Robinson; the trailblazer who changed the racial and political landscape of America’s past time. For years, dating back to the early 1990s, Spike Lee had longed to put Robinson’s life on the big screen with Denzel as Robinson, but Rachel Robinson, the legend’s widow refused to relinquish Jackie’s life rights, thus putting the project on hold, indefinitely. On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson debuted at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers breaking Major League Baseball’s color-line [although Moses Fleetwood Walker was the first to play in the white world of professional baseball in 1884]. According to Hollywood insiders the movie does a fairly good job of capturing Robinson’s trials and tribulations as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers, however, what director Brian Helgeland and producer Thomas Tull, founder of Legendary Entertainment, do not do is offer a nuanced portrait of Robinson the person, but of course, that wasn’t the tandem’s intent. Despite being one of the country’s most recognizable sports figures, few know much about Robinson the Race Man. Before breaking baseball’s color line Robinson served in the U.S. Army as a 2nd Lt. and a member of the 761st Tank Battalion known as the “Black Panthers”. The vitriolic bigotry that he encountered while in the Army and the manner in which he handled it stood him in good stead during continued on page 4
This issue of the Bronzevillian Supplement is dedicated to Professor Charles Ross, who recently joined the ancestors. Ross was the first Director of Black Studies at The Ohio State University. Department of African American and African Studies Community Extension Center 905 Mount Vernon Avenue Columbus, Ohio 43203-1413
Phone: (614) 292-3922 Fax: (614) 292-3892 http://aaascec.osu.edu aaascec@osu.edu
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About Bronzeville
of the CEC 12Core Programs 6 T he Ohio State University’s AAAS Community Extension Center is the outreach component of the Department of African American and African Studies. The CEC is one of the few off-campus facilities of its kind in the nation. Originally housed at two different locations on Ohio Avenue, the CEC moved to its current location in 1986. The CEC plays an integral role in enhancing the life chances of those who live in and around the Mount Vernon Avenue Area. Toward that end, the CEC offers an array of programs at no or nominal cost to the public. Programs include, but are not limited to, the following: conferences, symposia, computer classes, credit and noncredit courses, summer programs, lecture series, and film series. People from all walks of life have participated in these programs. Based on evaluations of our programs and personal testimonies, the CEC is having an impact on residents living in and around the Bronzeville Neighborhood.
1 Black Veterans Day Salute During the salute, Black men and women from Ohio who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces are publicly recognized. Since the salute’s inception in 2006, the CEC has honored the Tuskegee Airmen (2006), Vietnam War veterans (2007), Korean War veterans (2008), African-American servicewomen (2009), World War II veterans (2010), Gulf War Era veterans (2011) and Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom Veterans (2012).
2 Ray Miller Institute for Change & Leadership This 10-week long leadership course trains young Black professionals from the Columbus community in various areas of leadership. The Institute was founded in 2006 by former State Senator and Minority Whip Ray Miller. Miller has built a reputation as a strong advocate for those who have historically not had access to power. Admission to the Institute is highly competitive. The Institute is offered during OSU’s autumn and spring semesters with the support of OSU’s Office of Continuing Education. Participants who complete the course receive three CEU credits.
3 Senior Citizens Movie Matinee The movie matinee is a chance for senior citizens to watch a film that otherwise might be cost prohibitive in an accommodating environment. A discussion, usually led by an OSU professor or administrator, is held at the end of the film.
4 Computer Literacy Program Throughout the academic year, the CEC offers free and reduced-cost computer technology courses. The program is geared toward seniors but open to everyone. Courses include the following: Senior Computer Orientation, Internet, Email, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Publisher.
5 Lecture Series Presentations given by OSU faculty, students and/or community members about topics pertinent to the Black community.
Math and Science Program
The Math and Science Program was established in partnership with the OSU Medical Center in 2003. The Math and Science Program exposes students in grades 4 through 12 to the wonders of math and science using hands-on activities. The purpose of the program is three-fold: 1) To increase competency in math and science among students of color; 2) To expose students of color to math and science related careers; and 3) To encourage students of color to major in math or science. The program meets on the fourth Monday of each month from October to May.
7 Summer Residential Program The Summer Residential Program (SRP) was established in 1999 and is designed to provide students with both an appreciation for and an understanding of African-American and African culture and history. The SRP also helps students strengthen their computer literacy skills. Past themes include: “The Underground Railroad” (2012), “All Eyez On Me: Deconstructing Images of African-American Women in Hip Hop” (2011), “letz b down: Social Justice Advocacy for Blacks During the American Revolutionary War Era” (2010), “The Low Country: Black Culture, Literacy and History in Charleston, South Carolina” (2009), and “Hip Hop Literacies” (2008). The program is held every June and is for rising 11th and 12th graders. Students live on OSU’s campus.
8 African Affairs Symposium This one-day symposium brings members of the African American and African communities together to discuss issues of particular interest to Africa. The inaugural symposium in 2007 examined the life of South African civil rights activist Steve Biko. “Africa in the Age of Globalization” was the theme of the 2008 symposium. The 2009 symposium examined the life of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana, West Africa. In 2010, the focus was on Pan-Africanism and the Diaspora. The Democratic Republic of the Congo was the theme of the 2011 symposium.
9 Summer Enrichment Program This week-long, non-residential day program is designed to help rising 9th and 10th graders improve their reading and writing skills. The program, which was founded in 2009, is hosted annually in June and accepts approximately 15 students.
10 History of Black Columbus Conference This one-day conference celebrates the rich history of African Americans in Columbus and increases awareness of the significant contributions African Americans have made in all areas of city life. This annual conference is held in the spring.
11 Black History Month Forum The forum is in its fourth year and is focused on celebrating African descended peoples from all over the world. This year, documentaries about the following influential Black historical figures were shown: John Henrik Clarke, Kwame Nkrumah, Fannie Lou Hamer, James Baldwin, Minister Elijah Muhummad.
12 Enemies of the State The annual event features activists from America’s most notorious radical organizations, people who pressured America to live up to its highest ideals. In past years, activists from The Us Organization (2012), The Black Panther Party (2011) and the Young Lords Organization (2010) were invited to speak.
During the 1930s, African-American leaders in Columbus named the predominately African-American neighborhood between the boundaries of Woodland Avenue (East), Cleveland Avenue (West), Broad Street (South) and the railroad tracks (North) “Bronzeville.” The population was approximately 70,000 residents. In 1936, the same African-American leaders elected a mayor of Bronzeville and created an eight member Cabinet to address social, political and economic issues in the neighborhood. Now, as a result of the establishment of several Neighborhood Civic Associations such as the Woodland Civic Association (East) and the Discovery District (West), Bronzeville was reduced to its current boundaries: Taylor Avenue (East), Jefferson Avenue (West), Broad Street (South), and I-670 (North). The Bronzevillian is inspired by this rich history.
CEC Advisory Board Paul Cook Wanda Dillard Francisca Figueroa-Jackson Mark S. Froehlich Ray Miller, Former State Senator Lupenga Mphande, Ph.D. William E. Nelson, Jr., Ph.D. *Ike Newsum, Ph.D. and Chair Rick Pfeiffer, City Attorney Thomas Simpson, Ph.D. Reita Smith Charleta Tavares, State Senator Nana Watson
CEC Director *Judson L. Jeffries, Ph.D.
CEC Staff Sarah Twitty Senior Program Coordinator & Fiscal Officer Kevin L. Brooks, Ph.D. Program Coordinator Alecia Shipe Technology Program Coordinator
Address Department of African American and African Studies Community Extension Center 905 Mount Vernon Avenue Columbus, Ohio 43203-1413 *Ex officio members.
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President Obama as Django By: Renford Reese, Ph.D.
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n the midst of celebrating Black History Month and the upcoming 85th Academy Awards, I have been consumed with contemplating the significance of Quentin Tarantino’s epic Western film Django Unchained. The film has five Oscar nominations, including that of Best Picture. I heard Spike Lee’s criticism of the film and I was reluctant to see the movie because of it. But, my students strongly encouraged me to watch the film--they emphatically said it was great. After watching the movie, I understood why it had such an impact on them. The film was the most liberating and empowering one that I have ever seen. Out of the hundreds of movies that I have seen in my lifetime, I do not remember one where the black man uses wit, savvy, and a conspicuous bravado to outsmart and outgun whites and ride off victoriously. Sidney Poitier’s wit and savvy made him a big screen legend. But, Poitier never played a character like Django. In Roots, Kunta Kinte was defiant but was eventually broken by his overseer and forced to change his named from Kunta to Toby—Kunta was no Django. Brilliantly played by Jamie Foxx, Django is a different type of black hero. His defiance and his capacity to exact revenge by successfully fighting violence with violence is something that is uniquely foreign to the American cinematic experience. The film’s statement on race is just as revolutionary as the character Django is defiant. One of the most humorous scenes in the film is when the Ku Klux Klan rides to find Django and his German bounty hunter comrade, Schultz. While looking for the two, the Klan begins to question why they are wearing white sheets over their heads, making it difficult to see. This satire of our own homegrown terrorist organization is reflective of Tarantino’s fearless cinematic grit.
The hatred displayed by some towards the strong, calm, intelligent, savvy, independent-minded black hero is just as palpable today as it was in the 1850s. If Obama were candid, he would tell us that he can empathize with Django. In reflecting on Black History Month, the fact that this type of film could be made and embraced by so many means that progress has been made. The fact that Obama was reelected means that progress has been made. The fact that more Americans favor inclusion instead of exclusion means that progress has been made. And, those who refuse to embrace this new reality are quickly becoming a shrinking minority, which means that progress has been made. The president and the first lady have been in the trenches fighting the good fight since Obama’s first inauguration. They have fought with class, courage, and strength. Their fortitude has allowed them to victoriously raise their champagne glasses twice. The last scene of Django Unchained shows the defiant hero, Django, on a horse beside his beautiful wife riding triumphantly into the sunset. The metaphor could not be more striking.
Renford Reese, Ph.D. is a political science professor at Cal Poly Pomona. He is the author of five books and the founder/director of the Prison Education Project: www.PrisonEducationProject.org This film would have been deemed too dangerous to make four decades ago. And if we had not been exposed to a black president for the past four years, the storyline might have stretched our imaginations. At some point after watching this film, I realized that politically speaking, Obama is Django. The metaphors of the two are inescapable: the black hero who wins against all odds—the one who out-foxes the venomous opposition by overcoming their ridicule, ugliness, and hatred.
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Jackie Robinson, 42, and the Race Man Few People Knew cont. his early years in Major League Baseball. Also long before Rosa Parks’ defiant act sparked a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 Lt. Robinson had behaved similarly in 1944. His decision to disobey a Texas bus driver [while stationed at Fort Hood] who ordered Robinson to the back of the bus prompted a court-martial that garnered extensive press coverage. Word of Robinson’s actions spread quickly: and found its way onto the front page of many of the country’s Black newspapers. Robinson’s refusal to capitulate to the mores and customs of the Old South cannot be overstated. Robinson retired from baseball in 1956, after refusing a trade to the New York Giants. Robinson’s life, however, after baseball, was no less eventful. Unbeknownst to many, Robinson was a tireless champion of the poor and a Civil Rights advocate. Said Robinson, the basic rights “which belong to each white infant born into this nation should and must belong to every Black infant . . . these rights are no gift to be patronizingly doled out by some benefactor if we ‘behave ourselves.’” In 1957, Robinson chaired the NAACP’s million-dollar Freedom Fund Drive. Several years later he oversaw the Chaney-Goodman-Schwerner Planning Drive, to raise $25,000 to build a community center in Meridian, Mississippi in the memory of the three slain civil rights workers whose lives were the story-line of the 1988 movie, Mississippi Burning. During the heyday of the Civil Rights Movement, Robinson marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the South for equal rights. In a march in Frankfort, Kentucky, Robinson and Dr. King addressed a rally of ten thousand people marching in support of a civil rights bill to end Jim Crow in public accommodations, when Robinson bellowed one of his familiar refrains, “No Negro would have it made until the last Negro in the Deep South has it made.” Robinson took his role as a Race Man seriously even though he may not have viewed himself that way. He chided politicians (both Black and White) who refused to take a firm stance in favor of tough civil rights laws. One person who earned Robinson’s disdain was Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater whom Robinson believed to “be a bigot and an advocate of white supremacy and more dangerous than George Wallace.” Instead, Robinson supported Hubert Humphrey for president in 1964. Humphrey’s efforts to move the Senate to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had earned him, Robinson’s respect. Robinson also understood that Civil Rights without economic might were a false promise. In 1965, Robinson and a group of investors opened the Freedom National Bank in Harlem, the only full service Black-owned bank in the city. Five years after it was founded, the Freedom National Bank was the top Black bank in America. Robinson was passionate about helping the less fortunate; prompting him to create the Jackie Robinson Construction company with the expressed purpose of building homes for low-income New York City residents. Robinson’s legacy as a Race Man may not be widely known, but it is undeniable. One could argue that his work on behalf of African Americans after he retired from baseball was more impactful than anything he did on the baseball diamond. This side of Robinson is rarely told; and 42 is no exception.
Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson in the film 42
Nicole Beharie as Rachel Isum in the film 42
Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey in the film 42
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Upcoming Event
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2013 Summer Enrichment Program
For More Information please visit http://aaascec.osu.edu or call Sarah Twitty 614-292-3922
the Bronzevillian Supplement April 2013
2013 Summer Residential Program
For More Information please visit http://aaascec.osu.edu or call Dr. Kevin Brooks 614-292-3922
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‘Things Fall Apart’ and the Case Against Imperialism By: Sankara Kamara he death of the renowned Nigerian writer, Chinua Achebe, has thrust one of the most popular African books in the news. Although Achebe wrote multiple books and produced several works of scholarship, ‘Things Fall Apart’ acted as the catalyst for his popularity, sending the Nigerian writer to the highest plateaus of academic fame. How did ‘Things Fall Apart,’ a book written about the Igbo people in Nigeria, become an explanatory voice for colonially oppressed societies all over Africa? The literary tenor used by Achebe to write ‘Things Fall Apart,’ is the first reason behind the book’s popularity. Any exhaustive commentary on ‘Things Fall Apart,’ must recognize the book’s flair for weaving Igbo words and phrases with the English language. By partly Africanizing the English language to tell an African story, Achebe was able to show a pre-colonial Igbo society equipped with the ability for self-rule. Through the book’s main character, Okonkwo, Achebe showed how pre-colonial Igbo society dealt with crime and punishment. When Okonkwo committed what could be termed in today’s legal systems as manslaughter, the response from the oracles at Umuofia was swift and judicious. Once it became clear that Okonkwo’s accidentally-discharged gun was responsible for killing a citizen of the land, the oracles pronounced a verdict, which ordered Okonkwo’s seven-year exile from the land he loved. Despite his enormous stature in Igbo society, Okonkwo was subjected to the rule of law through a cultural edict, forcing a seemingly untouchable man into seven anguishing years of exile.
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DEPICTION OF A POLITICALLY ORGANISED PEOPLE By the time Okonkwo served his seven year sentence in banishment, Umuofia---his beloved land----was already chafing under the assault of imperialism. European mercenaries, deceptively casting themselves as ‘missionaries,’were already in Umuofia to carry out a frontal assault on the political, cultural and social institutions which held Okonkwo’s people together. The tragic story of Ikemefuna, which revealed the truest depths of Okonkwo’s compulsive feelings of insecurity, also showed us another feature of Igbo society. Contrary to racist falsities, most of which opine that pre-colonial African societies were clusters of disorganized tribes, Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’ proved otherwise. Governance and conflict-resolution worked in tandem in Okonkwo’s Umuofia. When the land of Umuofia felt offended by the killing of its citizen in a neighboring jurisdiction, the young Ikemefuna was handed over—through an emissary to the people of Umuofia as a symbol peace. Throughout his short lifespan,
the young Ikemefuna served as a conciliatory symbol from the clan which sued for peace. Indeed, Ikemefuna’s presence in Okonkwo’s household was seen in Umuofia as a gesture of peace. There were times when the people of Umuofia waged war, but only after the failure of pacifism. Similarly, Europeans—from the Peace of Westphalia in the 17th century to the emergence of Nazi Germany in the last century—did go to war on multiple occasions when conflict-resolution proved futile. Despite all the bloody episodes in its history, imperial Europe did justify the conquest of Africa by postulating that ‘civilization’ is an exclusive, Western virtue! ‘Things Fall Apart’ is both a refutation of, and a counterblast to, the racist theories used to demean pre-colonial Africa as a heathenish land without God or government! Chinua Achebe successfully showed that before things literally fell apart, Africans lived under various systems of government overseen by the rule of law. THE MULTIPLE FACES OF ‘THINGS FALL APART’ Apart from its utility as an African response to European imperialism, ‘Things Fall Apart’ has other uses in academia. The book has proven itself as a work of scholarship usable in multiple, academic disciplines. Prescribed in some African countries as a literature book, ‘Things Fall Apart’ has also been used in American universities as a sociology book. Additionally, “Things Fall Apart” can lend itself to the voracity of a historian because book deals with the political, cultural and social developments of a people, whose history was perverted by foreigners. Sociologically speaking, ‘Things Fall Apart’ deals with the behavioral patterns of a society that suffered a civilizational eclipse when attacked from outside. Lastly, ‘Things Fall Apart’ has been internationally used as a literature textbook because its European and African characters have stirred a lot of pensiveness among dramatists. Europeans have spent centuries, trying to justify their uninvited presence in Africa. With its sociological teachings, ‘Things Fall Apart’ can be used to ask a specific question: Why did Europeans force their so-called “civilizing mission” on a people who were readily spiritual and culturally sure of themselves? Even today, in the twenty-first century, the colonial rampages seen in ‘Things Fall Apart,” continue in several guises, mostly through Western agencies like the IMF and international trade, which has been booby-trapped enough to be called ‘unfair trade.’ There is a reason why things have fallen apart in Africa: a rape victim—psychologists say— could live with the trauma of defilement for an endlessly long time! When
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‘Things Fall Apart’ and the Case Against Imperialism cont. be eternally destabilizing. Little wonder the subversive presence of Europeans in Umuofia, disoriented Okonkwo so much that he committed suicide. Today’s African countries are a bigger representation of Okonkwo’s Umuofia, where normalcy was replaced with the chaos unleashed by European colonialists. THE DESTRUCTIVENESS OF IMPERIALISM Colonial rule lasted well over a century in some African countries. Britain pompously took over Sierra Leone and kept the country as a personal property for at least 150 years! Colonial rule was very thorough in its destruction of Africa, both from a psychological and socio-economic perspective. Land-seizures and the total usurpation of African authority, are few of the horrors committed in Africa by colonial Europe. By the time Europeans pulled out of Africa in the 1960s, the damage was already done. After a century of colonial degradation, the skills needed to run a modern, nation-state, became dangerously scarce in the newly-independent African States. Portuguese colonial rule, for example, proved so damaging that Africans were NOT allowed to acquire any skills other than those needed to make them serve as cooks and servants. When Portugal grudgingly pulled out of Angola in 1975, the newly-independent Angolan state staggered with incompetence, nervously searching for teachers, doctors and the managerial competence needed to run a country. Colonial rule was the crime that came close to enslaving the African all over again. When Chinua Achebe showed the horrors of colonial rule in ‘Things Fall Apart,’ the narrative easily became the African story that impinged itself on our consciousness. Chinua Achebe has passed onto the land of our silent ones. However, the African story he told in ‘Things Fall Apart,’ will always remain piercingly loud. *Sankara Kamara is a Sierra Leonean academic and freelance writer. You can catch him on Facebook: www.facebook/sankara kamara of Okonkwo’s Umuofia, where normalcy was replaced with the chaos unleashed by European colonialists.
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Remembering Dr. King and What He Stood For By: Judson L. Jeffries, Ph.D.
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hursday, April 4, 2013 marked the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Someone recently asked me what I thought Dr. Martin L. King Jr. would be concerned about if he were alive today. I replied that he would be concerned about the same issues that consumed him before his untimely death - war, racism and poverty. Indeed, King was at the forefront of the discussion on these important matters. Despite his stature in American history most know very little of substance about King or what he stood for. Many are aware of King's role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and have seen footage of his 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech. However, few know much about the last three years of his life (1966-68). Indeed, these years are critical to understanding King in full. It was during this period when King linked the militarism of the Vietnam War with domestic issues of racism and economic exploitation. He began to talk of the war, having concluded that it was siphoning off much needed funds for the War on Poverty in America. He also came to believe that racism was more deeply ingrained in the psyche of Whites than he had previously thought. A significant transition took place in King’s philosophical outlook from 1966 to 1968. One of King's former professors argued that until 1966 “King had attempted to balance protest and accommodation, and he was politically aligned with the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. However, he moved steadily away from liberal reformism to revolutionary democratic socialism.” For years, King told a reporter in 1967, “I struggled with the idea of reforming society's existing institutions. Now I feel quite differently. I think you've got to have a reconstruction of the entire society.” It is apparent that, by 1966, King had begun to articulate a vision of the future that would require radical structural changes in existing social, political and economic institutions, and he had begun to take steps, exemplified in the planning of the Poor People's Campaign, to bring that vision into fruition. This project would push for an Economic Bill of Rights for Jobs and Income for the Disadvantage. Also during this time King talked about a fundamental redistribution of wealth and power, full employment legislation, a guaranteed annual wage, massive expenditures to reinvigorate inner
cities and to provide jobs for inner-city residents, a national health insurance and a more equitable tax system. It is clear that the type of democratic socialism that King envisioned was the kind he witnessed on a trip to several Scandinavian countries, especially Sweden. “They don't have any poverty . . . no unemployment, nobody needing health services can't get them. They don't have any ghettos. The question is why? It is because Scandinavia has grappled with the problem for a more equitable distribution of wealth,” King exclaimed during one of his visits. King came to view democratic socialism as an alternative to capitalism as the political and economic ideology most in tune with his view of the distinctively Christian goal of society, “the Beloved Community.” By ‘the Beloved Community’, he meant an inclusive and interrelated society characterized by “freedom and justice for all.” This emphasis upon interrelatedness assumed a theme that was particularly prominent in King’s later speeches and writings: the social nature of human existence. For him, reality was composed of structure that forms an interrelated whole. That is to say, people are dependent upon each other. The recognition of one's interdependence to others should destroy the attitude of self-sufficiency so often characteristic of human nature, and it should lead to an acknowledgement that individuals need each other for human fulfillment. “The interrelated character of life means that the I cannot attain fulfillment without the Thou. Selves who recognize their interrelatedness must be nurtured in order for the Beloved Community to emerge." In order to fully understand King one must come to grips with both his broadened social vision in terms of democratic socialism and the tactic of "mass civil disobedience" that he thought would be required to achieve it. No other American so successfully wedded the American political ideal of equality in the eyes of the state with the religious belief of equality in the eyes of God. And few in our history have matched his personal courage in pursuit of his dream for peace, equal rights and equal opportunity.
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In Remembrance
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Spectrum: A Journal on Black Men
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