Character Education Black History Month
Civil Rights in America A publication of the Afro-American Newspapers The Baltimore Afro-American Newspaper 2519 N. Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21218 (410) 554-8200 The Washington Afro-American Newspaper 1917 Benning Road NE Washington, DC 20002 (202) 332-0080 John J. Oliver Jr. Chairman/Publisher
Table of Contents
4 Civil Rights in America - Black History Month 2014
6 Character Education Profile: Michael Davenport - BGE 7 Transmitting the Message of a People
Avis Thomas-Lester Executive Editor Diane Hocker Character Education Project Manager
10 Character Education Profile: Larry Graham - Verizon
Dorothy Boulware Project Editor Zenitha Prince Contributing Writer Vickie Johnson Denise Dorsey Graphic Designers
15 Character Education Profile: Victoria Boston - Verizon
Cover Images: (all AFRO Archives) Top row: Emmett Till Sept. 10, 1955; Front Page picture Sept. 21, 1963; Coretta Scott King and daughter Apr. 9, 1968; Sobbing Mothers Recall Sept. 28, 1963; Cry for ‘Freedom’ headline Sept. 7, 1963; Front Page picture Sept 7, 1963; Bottom row: Swarm of Freedom Riders June 3, 1961; Jackie Sparks Dodgers April 19, 1947; Boycott Still On Dec. 17, 1955; Gordon Parks and Hilda Sims June 24, 1954; Hicks Stirs Hornet’s Nest Mar. 10, 1951
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Welcome to Character Education 2014
T
he Afro-American Newspapers’ Character Education program is designed to promote positive character traits in our public school students. Each year, several corporate professionals and business leaders join our effort and share stories that illustrate how the building of their character not only helps them personally but also in the workplace. During Black History Month, the AFRO is delivered to public middle schools across the region including Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City and Baltimore County, Howard County, Montgomery County, Prince George’s County and Washington, D.C. Each publication contains the testimonies of our corporate partners. How does it work? During the AFRO’s Black History Month series – the newspaper’s most active and sought after series each year– we feature a Black History and Character Education publication that profiles diverse corporate professionals, their success stories and helpful strategies for planning a successful career. Each week, eighth graders from Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City and Baltimore County, Howard Afro-American Newspapers
County, Montgomery County, Prince George’s County and Washington, D.C. Public Schools receive the publication at no cost. The goal is for students to read the featured profiles and Black history content and submit an essay connecting what they’ve learned from a particular profile to the importance of character building. Winners of the essay contest are awarded valuable prizes to further their education and an opportunity to meet the corporate professional they chose to write about. Why eighth graders? Our research shows that by the eighth grade, most students have started to seriously think about their career goals and are more receptive to the information shared by the business community. How can the schools help? • Allow the AFRO to deliver Character Education to your school on a weekly basis throughout the month of February. In addition, provide the AfroAmerican Newspapers in your school’s media center or library on a weekly basis for the current calendar year. • Assist in coordinating the distribution of the publication within February 15, 2014
participating school districts. • Identify a liaison to advise us on information concerning character education that can be included in each edition. • Encourage teachers and students to participate in the essay contest.
How do schools benefit? • The AFRO encourages staff and students of participating schools to submit stories, columns, photos, etc., about the importance of education and good character. • During February, all participating schools receive the Character Education publication to assist students in their learning of Black history and to further promote literacy. Partnership opportunity Corporations, nonprofits and other organizations are invited to become strategic partners with this campaign. By becoming a partner, your company will help provide the AFRO as an educational tool to eighth graders throughout the region. In addition, your company will illustrate its support for professional development among today’s youth. Character Education/Black History Month
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Civil Rights in America Black History Month 2014 The AFRO examined its own coverage of Civil Rights in America with the research that culminated in the August 2013 special publication, Why We March. We became convinced that such a comprehensive task was totally impossible so we focused on particular decades, 1901-1963, highlighting the March on Washington on the 50th commemoration of the monumental event. The return to the subject with this year’s Black History Month theme, “Civil Rights in America,” affords us another opportunity, with no less limitation. The real struggle for justice began, not on a specific date with a specific event, but the moment kidnapped Africans found themselves haplessly deposited on land occupied by people who considered the Africans to be less than themselves; who felt the God-ordained position for the Africans was to be permanent servitude and labor for the benefit of their “owners.” Despite assertions to the contrary, there
was never a peaceful resignation that life should be thus. As the moth wriggles to exit the cocoon, as the fetus pushes to extricate itself from the womb, Africans pushed against the new framework that forced them into a permanent underclass – something inappropriate for people who’d been told there was nothing greater than themselves under the heavens. So they pooled their human resource as they learned each other’s dialects and languages; they pulled together to hide their native worship gatherings; and they performed their duties with determination despite the inborn knowledge that freedom was
Pages from AFRO American Newspaper ‘Why We March’ Issue Aug. 2013
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more than a gift, but a right of their very existence. Even after the law mandated the justice that was long overdue, previous owners enticed them to return with promises of freedom later on, regaling them with tales of unknown and unseen dangers that awaited them beyond the constraints of the familiar environment they’d occupied during their enslavement. They fought individually. They fought collectively. And in the late 1800s, early 1900s they began to organize with the first meetings of the Niagara Movement that evolved into the NAACP. They owned businesses. They earned degrees. They found careers. They opened schools and churches. The demand was never quieted. The shout is still heard. Civil Rights in America has its own history and culture, its own heroes and sheroes, its own footprint and fingerprint and has been the seed of justice seekers throughout the world. During these four weeks, we’ll talk about the unsung heroes, whose names may never be called during Black History Month commemorations but whose selfless sacrifices reverberate through the ages. We’ll discuss the culture that evolved almost surreptitiously. Not everyone who participated in the struggle professed to be a Christian, but the faith of the movement derived its energy from the words of Jesus – the “turn the other cheek” manifesto that fueled demonstrations and weeded out ineligible candidates.
A distinctive lingo. Words took on new meaning when they were used in the freedom fight. Fighting words became melodious. “I woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus” morphed into the mind being stayed on freedom. “I’ll Overcome Some Day,” penned by Methodist Bishop Charles Albert Tindley, became “We Shall Overcome.” The spiritual that served as a work song as well as a worship theme became the voice of determined fighters – “I Shall Not Be Moved.” There even emerged a uniform. Determination morphed into militancy. The naturals of the ‘50s grew into the afros of the ‘60s. Clothing became more relaxed – less like “Sunday go-tomeeting” clothes for church; more like clothes for work. We will also look at how the word was transported, the media for the message: how the news of the struggle traveled, how the media evolved from beginning through social media, with its hashtags, memes and selfies-along the way highlighting key journalists. Most poignantly we’ll focus on the key legislation and the legislators who championed their enactment in the areas of education, public accommodations, voting and much more. All this will offer little more than a glimpse into the history of a struggle that propelled its participants into a just space and continues to fight for the maintenance of that justice in all spheres of influence for all people.
Wikimedia Commons Images clockwise from top left: Diagram of a slave ship from the Atlantic slave trade. 1790 Niagara Movement leaders W. E. B. Du Bois (seated), and (left to right) J. R. Clifford, L. M. Hershaw and F. H. M. Murray at Harpers Ferry
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Bishop Charles Albert Tindley Original six members of the Black Panther Party, top l to r: Elbert “Big Man” Howard; Huey P. Newton, Sherman Forte, Bobby Seale. Bottom: Reggie Forte and Little Bobby Hutton. Nov. 1966 Slaves Waiting for Sale painting by Etre Crowe, 186
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Never Underestimate the Value of Education My greatest inspiration has been my parents and grandparents. They provided me with an environment where I could explore and try new things. Whether it was taking karate lessons, swimming, crabbing or learning Spanish and French, I was encouraged to pursue every opportunity and remain an active learner. At an early age, my teacher, Ms. Douglass, – great granddaughter of Frederick Douglass − emphasized the importance of African Americans in U.S. history. She challenged us to continue Frederick Douglass’s legacy, and I have tried to honor that throughout my life. I attended H.D. Woodson High School in Washington D.C. and followed a challenging curriculum and strict code of conduct. Afterward, it was important to reflect on Ms. Douglass’s words and follow my parents’ footsteps and attend college. I earned an undergraduate degree in Afro American studies and a graduate degree in education administration from Howard University. I have spent a majority of my career working in corporate human resources. I have relied on my formal education and organizational development skills to lead various human resource functions at The Johns Hopkins Applied Sciences Physics Lab, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baxter Healthcare, Constellation Energy and Unistar. In 2011, I was presented with the opportunity to apply my networking and strategic planning skills as manager of BGE’s community affairs. In this role, I develop strategies that help BGE customers better understand and manage energy usage. Two pieces of advice I received have been the foundation of my success and happiness: Never underestimate the value of education, and pursue every opportunity to make a positive difference in your life and the lives of others. Education is an investment and the foundation from which you that can always draw. Take different courses that will help you grow intellectually and broaden your perspective. Don’t assume that you’ll never use what you learn in the “real world.” Take advantage of being exposed to different environments and cultures and learn about new topics, ideas, and perspectives.
Michael Davenport Manager, Community Affairs
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Transmitting the Message of a People By Zenitha Prince Contributing Writer From the time kidnapped Africans were brought to American shores and enslaved, their cause d’etre became the attainment of liberty, equality and justice. That message, at first, was carried from plantation to plantation on the reverberating rhythms of African “talking” drums. Those instruments, however, were eventually banned as slaveholders made the connection between the drums and the slaves’ organized revolts that threatened to topple the oppressive institution. But the Black enslaved were undeterred. Left without drums, they beat out their messages on European instruments, on pots, spoons, washboards and even their bodies in a practice called “patting juba” or “slapping juba.” The demand for freedom and the affirmation of their humanity were also sewn into traditional African quilts, obscured by stunning patterns and intricate stitchery. And they were carried on the wings of their songs. Whites, lulled by the religious themes of the Negro spirituals, completely missed the revolutionary messages hidden in the melodies. White and Black abolitionists preached the message of freedom, equality and justice by mouth, speaking before audiences. But the reach of that message exponentially expanded when ink was put to paper. When David Walker, a free Black originally from the South, published his Appeal in September 1829, the pamphlet could be found in places from Virginia to Louisiana within months. The radical document sought to instill a sense of pride in Blacks and urged them to revolt against their brutal oppressors. “Oh! My coloured brethren, all over the world, when shall we arise from this death-like apathy?—And be men!” Walker said. He later added, “It is no more harm for you to kill a man, who is trying to kill you, than it is for you to take a
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Background Image: Harriet Powers 1898 bible quilt. Wikipedia; David Walker’s Appeal. Courtesy Image; The first issue of The Liberator. Wikimedia Commons
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Moses
Newson, drink of water when thirsty; in fact, the man who will As a Black Black Pr Press repo Afro-Amer ess repor r te stand still and let another murder him, is worse than r fo r the Tri-S ican Newsp ter ta te a st p D e ories of th an infidel, and, if he has common sense, ought not to e Civil Rig r, Moses Newson c efender and Baltim o ore in Mississ ippi; dese hts Movement inclu vered many of the be pitied.” g m regation in din a Clinton, T Hoxie, Ark g the Emmett Til jor en White-run abolitionist newspapers such as l trial ., (1955); Little Roc n., (1956); desegre d gation of k, William Lloyd Garrison’s The Liberator and the Central H esegregation in Mississipp Ark., (1957); deseg ig h School regation o i (1962); in the COR more. North Star also spread the message, sometimes E Freedom f the University of R id e in 1961 Througho through slave narratives. and many ut those a r a ss c ig is m n ments, Ne and dange But, it was with the founding of the Freedom’s wson face r as other During th dm African A Journal on March 16, 1827, that the Black Press e T m il ericans in uch of the same l trial, Ne White pre w the So so n ss table bu became the main vehicle for disseminating the t were rele and other Black rep uth. side for th gated to si orters were em. At on messages of the abolitionist movement and its t in ep not allow including ed to sit a Medgar E oint during the tria the crowd. Later a t the vers, in th ta l, murder of ble was se progeny, the Civil Rights Movement. N e w son joined eir search t 14-year-o o ff to m th for overlo ld Till. There were “Even from the founding of the Black Press oked witn embers of the NAA e n esses to th o CP, p u b c li ould, and c e kidnapp in 1827 it has been a crusading force—always driving alo accommodations in g and fo “You didn ng dark ro r Black re ’t want to porters, so ads at nig interested in the welfare of the community, h be stoppe they slep In Arkansa d, even by t was a “tense” un s, during fighting specifically on behalf of people of color dertaking t where they p o li Black jou c h e ,” is , Newson he said. coverag rna said. and challenging the country to live up to its CORE Fre lists who were surro e of the Little Rock unded an N edom Rid in e , Newson d e bus that 14, 1961. founding principles,” said Moses Newson, was on was fire b beaten by a mob. A o nd, he wa e of four m bed in An Despite th 87, a respected Black press figure and former s abo niston, Ala e danger, ., on Moth ard the Newson p “We were reporter and executive editor with the Afroer’s Day, M e ay about a ch about the business rsevered. an of American Newspaper. AFRO. “W ge in those things th advancing progress in the cou hatev at created Mainstream publications, both during ntry and tr dual citize Born Feb. er it took to do th n y sh a ip t, 5 , th in 1 9 a slavery and during the scourge of Jim Crow A 2 t’ s 7, in Fruit merica,” h ing to bring journalism land Park what we were abou e told the from Linc , Fla., New t. oln Unive segregation, often ignored the freedom In additio son holds ” r si ty n S to c h a th o b o e achelor’s d l C p o o f iv litical con Journalism il Rights M struggle or misrepresented the facts in egree in ventions, in o v Je e m ff e e n rso c c t, Newson ivil war N r their attempt to buttress the institutions igeria, and ises in Jamaica and covered fo n City, Mo. Panama, in ur United stor Now livin State dependen that oppressed Blacks. Black newspapers g in Baltim ies in Cuba and So c e of Hall of u in the Bah s th o re A , fr N ic e F w a a . son also c amas, post me Sportsw and magazines, however, filled the news o-authore riter Sam d L F a ig c h y . ti ng for Fair vacuum and countered distorted truths, ness: The L ife Story sending their journalists into the war zone of represented the South—often with dangerous consequences for those the people on the journalists—to report on lynchings, trials, front lines trying to bring about change. We marches, boycotts and other aspects of the needed to be there to capture the history. Pretty often the Movement. [mainstream] coverage was not representative of what was “The Black Press was absolutely the basis going on.” for the coverage that was going on for years The Black Press not only spread the message of the and years even before the major press became interested,” Newson said, and later added, Background Image: Moses Newson watches a burning Civil Rights Movement through hard-hitting articles and editorials “There was a need for people who actually bus in Anniston, Alabama in 1961. AFRO Archive; top: Moses Newson
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Sam Lacy, champion of integration in sports
Born Oct. 23, 1903, Sam Lacy grew up on the U Street corridor of Washington, D.C., a few blocks from the Griffith Stadium. Home to the former Major League Baseball team, the Washington Senators, the stadium became a second home to Lacy, who shagged balls in the outfield, ran errands for the players and worked as a vendor. “Sam grew up in the ballparks and he had a chance to see that the players in the Negro Leagues were as good as the players in Major League Baseball,” his son, Sam H. Lacy – known by everyone as “Tim” – told the AFRO. Though he dreamed of a career in baseball, Lacy, instead set his eyes on making the dreams of other Black athletes come true, becoming an outspoken advocate for racial integration and equality in sports. “Lacy had a dream that all would someday be equal on the athletic field— equality based on excellence,” said Lenny Walker, a former Olympic coach, at a May 1979 gala held in Lacy’s honor. Lacy started working full time in 1930 for The Washington Tribune and as a sports commentator for local radio stations, then joined The Afro-American Newspaper in 1936, home for most of his 70-year career. His first major story was in 1937 when he broke the news that Syracuse University multi-sport player Wilmeth Sidat-Singh was Black, not East Indian, as the school had claimed. Though he was criticized, the story displayed Lacy’s reputation for not allowing his own race to color his objectivity, and his penchant for criticizing anyone—from team owner to player—if deemed necessary. “He was fair on both sides of the coin,” Tim Lacy said. Lacy began his integration campaign by approaching Clark Griffith, owner of the Washington Senators, about bringing on Black players on his team. In 1940, after a planned meeting with Major League Baseball’s then commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, to discuss integration failed, Lacy later met with Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey. That discussion ultimately led to Jackie Robinson signing with the Dodgers’ minor league team, the Montreal Royals on Oct. 23, 1945, and later, to his signing with the Dodgers in 1947, bringing MLB’s racial walls crashing down. “The Jackie Robinson story was his baby,” Tim Lacy said of his dad. Lacy spent years covering Robinson’s struggles in the sport and faced the same racist humiliations as the athlete did—he was barred from press boxes, slept in the same “Blacks-only” boarding houses and ate at the same segregated restaurants. Once, his son said, they woke up to find a burning cross in front of the rooming house where they were staying. But, he never focused on his own
indignities, telling the Washington Post’s Kevin Merida, “It would have been a selfish thing for me to be concerned about myself and how I was treated.” After his major victory in desegregating baseball, Lacy continued his campaign for fairness and equality in sports: he pushed for equal pay and comparable accommodations, admonished the Baseball Hall of Fame to induct deserving Negro League players, chastised national TV networks over the lack of Black broadcasters, lambasted Major League Baseball for the absence of Black umpires, harangued major corporations for their failure to sponsor more Black golfers, and took the National Football League to task for the dearth of Black head coaches. Lacy also covered six Olympic Games, the Grand Slam tennis titles won by Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe two decades apart, Wilma Rudolph’s three track and field gold medals at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, Lee Elder playing at Augusta National in 1975 as the first Black golfer in the Masters tournament and the biggest prizefights of the 20th Century. In 1948, he was inducted as the first Black member of the Baseball Writers Association of America. In 1997, the day before he turned 94, he was named winner of the J. G. Taylor Spink Award for meritorious contributions to baseball writing, placing him in the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2003 Lacy died at age 99—just days after writing his final regular “A to Z” column for the AFRO, which he filed from his hospital bed.
about the struggle, but also in its chronicling of other aspects of African-American life, such as birthdays, weddings and church events; its hailing of Black achievement; its discussion of increasing opportunities for Blacks and more. Black radio also played an integral role in spreading the word of the Civil Rights Movement. After World War II, the Black radio format, which emphasized news, public affairs, and Black music, Continued on page 11
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Image: April 19, 1947 Sam Lacy article. AFRO Archive
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Always Do the Right Thing Integrity has become the cornerstone of how I do business and live my life. I was taught at a very young age that the most important quality about oneself is not so much what others think of you, but what you think of yourself. In my duties at Verizon, I am counted on to manage a wide range of responsibilities for the company, which trusts that I am going to represent it according to its business code of conduct. This code requires me to always do the right thing for our customers. I spend a lot of time meeting customers and local government officials who count on me to hear their concerns and provide solutions. These customers accept my promise that I am going to do my best to solve their problems and rely on me when I commit to assist. My best experiences come when I get calls from customers who thank me for helping them. That is what makes Verizon such a great place to work. We have thousands of employees who accomplish their goals with a high degree of integrity. I am also very active in my community and my church. Whatever I do, I always give it my best and keep my word, no matter how challenging the assignment. It is easy to do the right thing when you expect that someone is watching. The best thing is to always do it just for you. Make it your cornerstone in life.
Larry Graham Verizon
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Gordon Parks, Photographer
Gordon Parks was an icon of 20th Century American photography, who left behind a richly diverse body of work that chronicled many of the most important aspects of American culture from the early 1940s until his death in 2006, with a focus on race relations, poverty, civil rights, urban life and even fashion, according to his biography on the Gordon Parks Foundation website. He was also a celebrated musician, composer, author, and filmmaker, with movies such as The Learning Tree and Shaft to his credit. Parks was born into poverty and segregation in Kansas in 1912 as the last of 15 children. His mother died while he was in high school and he had to fend for himself, working as a cowpuncher, dockworker, bartender and piano player, according to an April 4, 1953 AFRO article. But, he had always been drawn to photography since he saw images of migrant workers published in a magazine, and he bought his first camera for $7.50 while working as a dining car waiter. Self-taught, Parks developed his own signature style and soon found employment with the Farm Security Administration (F.S.A.), which was then chronicling the nation’s social conditions. His 1948 photo essay on the life of a Harlem gang leader won him widespread acclaim and a position as the first African-American staff photographer and writer for Life magazine, then by far the most prominent
photojournalism publication in the world. “A good picture may not always be in focus or best in composition, but in it you are always aware of a specific moment which has been recorded truthfully,” the AFRO article quoted him as saying. “As a photographer I relentlessly search for that moment.” Parks’ coverage of the Civil Rights Movement was different and highly impactful, said Maurice Berger, academician and curator of the exhibit, “For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights.” “What made his photography unique was that it was not of conflagrations or speeches; it was of the everyday… the prosaic; it showed the microscopic rather than the macroscopic view of the AfricanAmerican community and it showed AfricanAmerican life in the South as difficult but also complex, nuanced and fairly ordinary,” Berger said. The “brilliant” photographer felt that if he could touch people’s hearts, stir their empathy, his photography could, perhaps, start breaking down the walls of racism. “Gordon Parks took some of the most beautiful and moving images of Black life in the South. They inspired empathy in the White community because they saw that their lives were not much different,” Berger said.
proliferated within a broadcast industry owned WERD and Tall Paul White of WEDR and dominated by Whites. According to an essay in Birmingham, used their bully pulpit by Michael H. Burchett published in the The to advance the Civil Rights Movement, Image: Gordon Parks. African American Encyclopedia, White-owned radio AFRO Archive earning praise from Dr. Martin Luther stations began devoting portions of their on-air King Jr. and other prominent leaders. schedules to programming aimed at Black audiences. “Working from an extensive African American oral tradition, “Listen Chicago” was the first news discussion program aimed at black disc jockeys shaped black (and often white) musical tastes African Americans, and ran from 1946 to 1952. In 1949, Jesse B. and created a social grapevine that contributed largely to the Blayton, an African-American professor at Atlanta University and empowerment of the growing civil rights movement,” Burchett a bank president, purchased WERD in Atlanta, making it the first wrote. “Southern black stations in particular became clearinghouses Black-owned radio station in America. for information and forums for discussion among black At WERD and other stations, Black disc jockeys dominated communities cut off from each other by segregation and geography.” Black radio as they “developed flamboyant on-air personalities that But while words were important to transmitting the messages mirrored changes occurring in the black community,” Burchett of the Civil Rights Movement, visual media were equally, if not wrote. “ more impactful. In fact, it could be argued that it was an image Those radio celebrities, such as Jack ‘the rapper’ Gibson of that actually created or at least galvanized the fledgling Civil Rights Afro-American Newspapers
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Moneta Sleet Jr., Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photographer
in 1964 and the Selma to Montgomery march in 1965. In 1968, when Coretta Scott King learned there were no Black photographers in the small pool covering her husband’s funeral, she said if Sleet were not given a choice vantage point in the church, no other photographers would be allowed. He ended up taking such a powerful image that the photo was distributed nationwide by the Associated Press. Sleet’s empathy with his subjects and his commitment to the cause of equal rights and justice was evident in his work—and he never apologized for that. ‘’I wasn’t there as an objective reporter,’’ he was quoted as saying by The New York Times. ‘’I had something to say and was trying to show one side of it. We didn’t have any problems finding the other side.’’ In addition to King and the other leaders of the Movement, Sleet photographed Black cultural icons such as Muhammad Ali, Stevie Wonder (without his dark glasses) and Billie Holiday. But he was also known for capturing poignant, silent moments and images of those who often faded to the background, particularly children. In addition to crisscrossing the South, Sleet traveled extensively throughout Africa covering the period of African national independence in the 1950s. He photographed most of the Black heads of state in Africa including Haile Selassie, Jomo Kenyatta and Kwame Nkrumah, earning him an Overseas Press Club Citation in 1957. In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, Moneta Sleet received numerous accolades, including those from the National Urban League in 1969, and the National Association of Black Journalists in 1978.
Movement. On Aug. 28, 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till was kidnapped, tortured and killed by two White men—who were later acquitted in 67 minutes by an all-White jury—for the alleged crime of whistling at a White woman. His mother, Mamie Till-Mobley held a public funeral service with an open casket, allowing people to take pictures of her son’s mutilated, unrecognizable corpse. “Let the world see what has happened, because there is no way I could describe this. And I needed somebody to help me tell what it was like,” she famously said.
The searing image, widely published in Jet and other publications, energized a new generation of freedom fighters who coalesced into the Civil Rights Movement. And its leaders became skilled imagemakers, using photography and other visual media as weapons in their struggle. “The African-American civil rights leaders really got visual media in a way no other advocacy group was able to before and were the first political leaders to take full advantage of the visual medium to change public opinion,” said Maurice Berger, senior research scholar at the Center for Art, Design, and Visual Culture at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and senior fellow at the Vera List Center for Art and Politics of The New School. For example, Berger said, Malcolm X carried a camera and helped photographers block shots at Nation of Islam events to help frame the group in the best light. As with words, images of the Civil Rights Movement differed depending on the source. “Really, the story of visual images in the Civil Rights Movement and media images is two separate stories,” said Berger, curator of
Moneta Sleet Jr. was known for his extensive documentation of the Civil Rights Movement, including his legendary photo of a grieving Coretta Scott King and 5-year-old daughter Bernice at the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which earned him a 1969 Pulitzer Prize—the first for a Black journalist. Born in Owensboro, Ky., Sleet’s interest in photography began as a child when his parents gave him an old box camera. He pursued photography at Kentucky State College and received his master’s degree in journalism from New York University in 1950. Sleet did a brief stint as a sportswriter for The Amsterdam News in 1950, before joining Our World, a popular Black picture magazine. When it folded in 1955, he joined Ebony, the Black-owned monthly based in Chicago. From 1956, when Sleet met Dr. King, the Baptist preacher from Georgia who was just emerging as a national civil rights leader, the Black Press photographer was there to capture key moments in the Movement’s history from the March on Washington in 1963, Dr. King’s acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo
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the groundbreaking exhibition, “For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights.” He added, “Much of what passes as Civil Rights imagery was taken by White photographers [and that’s] the story everyone has talked about and focused on…how [those] photographs became a powerful force to represent the problems with the country. They recorded the atrocities of segregation and this provided evidence to prove to skeptical White people that these conditions really existed. “If you accept that, it takes the story away from the agency of African Americans and makes it appear as if the mainstream media was principally responsible for the images that changed the future of the Movement,” Berger said. “There’s this other story: that the African-American community itself realized that there were all kinds of images created by mainstream media and much of that imagery was filled by stereotypes or wasn’t addressing the Movement or allowing African Americans to speak for themselves. “Civil rights leaders and rankand-file members who took cameras into their hands played a role in chronicling the Movement. AfricanAmerican families had snapshot cameras, and by producing these snapshots of themselves, they countermanded negative images and perceptions in the media…and showed the beauty, brilliance, triumph and ordinariness of families.” The advent of pictorial magazines like Ebony and Jet—much like the NAACP’s The Crisis before them—in the 1940s and ‘50s provided a new conduit for a monthly stream of positive, affirming images of African Americans to enter the popular culture. Afro-American Newspapers
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They featured photo-essays of Black celebrities, athletes and other achievers, and depicted Black models in their advertisements. Such images helped “normalize” African Americans in the eyes of White America, Berger said. It was the rise of television that served as the main impetus for the Movement, however. While photos—some would argue— could be altered, it was hard to argue with the veracity of live video, which “told White America, once and for all, that they could not sweep the situation under the rug,” Berger said. The drama of Black and White freedom fighters marching through a gauntlet of snarling dogs, icy-sharp blasts of water, a fusillade of insults and the sharp cracks of police-wielded billy clubs became fodder for the mainstream media. “Mainstream news fell in love with the story of civil rights,” Berger said, not because they felt some moral compulsion to change segregation, but “because it was so compelling that they could tell it night after night and keep their viewers spellbound.” Whatever the motivation, the vivid images seared themselves upon America’s conscience, creating momentum for a change in the status quo. “There were many civil rights
Image: March on Washington photo, Aug. 1963. AFRO Archive
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leaders who believed that without the televised footage of the atrocities in Birmingham in 1963 they would not have passed civil rights legislation in 1964,” Berger said. Television played another seemingly innocuous—though no less important— role. In the
mid-1960s, television dramas and sitcoms began to feature AfricanAmerican actors in non-stereotypical, non-derogatory roles—though they were usually portrayed as race neutral to avoid frightening a skittish White audience. “Just the appearance of Black actors in less menial roles was important to enfranchising African Americans,” Berger said. “I Spy” (1965-1968), an espionage drama featuring Black comedian Bill Cosby and Robert Culp, was the first national TV program to feature an African American actor in a positive leading role. “Julia,” which starred Diahann Carroll and ran for 86 episodes on NBC from September 1968 to March 1971 followed the trend. “Perhaps no greater vehicle of communication is contributing to a better understanding of the American Negro than television,” a 1954 editorial in the Pittsburgh Courier, a Black newspaper asserted. Film was another platform for those images. The 1936 film Show Boat, centered on a troupe of actors and singers on a Mississippi boat, cast several Black actors, including Paul Robeson who delivered an exuberant rendition of “Ol’ Man River.” Stormy Weather, a 1943 musical based upon the life and times 14
Character Education/Black History Month
of its star, dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, featured an AfricanAmerican cast, including Lena Horne, Cab Calloway and Fats Waller. Other films faced the race issue head-on: The Defiant Ones (1958), earned co-stars Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis Oscar nominations for their roles as escaped convicts chained together by a warden; Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) featured Harry Belafonte as a bank robber paired with a White bigot consumed by hatred; A Raisin in the Sun (1961), starring Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee, depicted the struggles of a poor Black family living in inner city Chicago; To Kill A Mockingbird (1962) featured Gregory Peck as a lawyer and widower father defending a Black man (Brock Peters) wrongly accused of raping a White woman; Nothing But A Man (1964) depicts African Americans facing and overcoming the everyday tyranny of segregation in the South; Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) starred starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn as an affluent Images clockwise from left: White San Francisco couple, whose Diahann Carroll and Sidney Poitier in Paris Blues, Bill Cosby, Lena daughter brings home a Black Horne, Fats Waller (all Wikipedia) fiancé (Sidney Poitier.) Those movies represented “hope,” said Michele Wallace, professor of English and film studies at the City College of New York and the CUNY Graduate Center. “At the same time [they] were raising the collective image of Black people, [they] were also improving the lives of all the people (Black) working in the industry,” Wallace said. “When we see Black people in film, TV and advertising this represents access for educated Black people to support their family in a dignified manner and present their children with possibilities for the future.”
February 15, 2014
Afro-American Newspapers
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work! Truer words have never been spoken. Success in school and life overall is a team sport. No one makes it alone. At the very heart of teamwork are individuals who see winning as bigger than themselves and being a part of something special. Teamwork teaches us that there is no room for selfishness and that there is always someone counting on us to give our share and do our part. As the Vice President of Customer Service at Verizon, the best company in all the land, nothing gets accomplished without teamwork. The same is true at school and in our communities and neighborhoods. When we work together, everyone and everything is better as a result! One of my favorite quotes on teamwork comes from one of the greatest NBA basketball players of all times . . . “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” (Michael Jordan) Webster’s Dictionary defines teamwork as “the work done by people who work together as a team to do something.” Whether you are studying for a final exam at school or practicing for a sporting event, find others who desire winning and success, link up as a team and accomplish greatness together. Just remember, TEAM – Together, Everyone Achieves More!
Victoria Boston Verizon
Afro-American Newspapers
February 15, 2014
Character Education/Black History Month
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Afro-American Newspapers’
Character Education Essay Contest
T
Eighth-Graders Only
he Afro-American Newspapers’ Character Education Contest was launched 16 years ago to promote positive character development among the nation’s leaders of tomorrow – our youth. We believe good character has to be taught and modeled, which is why we have chosen to profile local corporate professionals and business leaders in our publication. The featured individuals, time and time again, incorporate positive character traits – such as honesty, respect, responsibility, courage and perseverance – in their everyday lives, proving to be positive role models in their community. For the contest, students are asked to read the featured profiles and choose the one that inspires them most to incorporate positive
character traits in their own lives. Students should then write an essay that best explains why they chose the article and how they plan to use what they’ve learned to shape their future. • Essays should be between two and four pages in length (doublespaced) and must be typed. • Essays will be judged on neatness, grammar, punctuation and the student’s ability to give insight on what they learned from the profile. Judges are impartial volunteers and may include teachers, staff from local colleges and universities and the editorial staff at the AFRO.
For more information concerning the Afro-American Newspapers’ Character Education Contest, please contact: Diane Hocker, 410-554-8243.
Prizes to be awarded
Deadline: April 4, 2014 E-mail essays to:
charactereducation@afro.com or mail typed essays to:
Diane Hocker • Afro-American Newspapers 2519 N. Charles Street • Baltimore, Md. 21218 No faxes will be accepted 16
Character Education/Black History Month
February 15, 2014
Afro-American Newspapers