The SPHINX | Spring 1968 | Volume 54 | Number 2 196805402 by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity

THE

A*A

Sphinx

T h e y o u n g man and w o m a n p i c t u r e d at right are a m o n g t h e t h o u s a n d s of s t u d e n t s

^ ^

w h o g r a d u a t e e a c h year f r o m c o l l e g e s and universities affilated with the United Negro College Fund.

They are the

advance guard of a n e w generation of Negro youth who possess the knowledge and skills required to enter the mainstream of our economy. As intelligent and educated Negro Americans, they hope to be able to live productive and creative lives . . . to contribute to our society in ways their parents never dreamed possible. W e believe they will succeed.

But the future of these young graduates must be balanced against the plight of millions of boys and girls living in the substratum of every city in this country. If we as Americans are to give substance to the phrase, "equality of opportunity," every capable youngster must be given an equal chance to realize his full educational potential. And this attainable goal must be shared by vastly larger numbers of gifted Negro youth — as soon as possible. The challenge is urgent. It must be met now. The alternative is to deny more than 20 million people the rights to share fully in the benefits of our society . . . to sustain a pattern of rejection, despair and hopelessness for a great many college-age youth. As a noted historian recently observed, " T h e rate of economic and social change in the United States is so rapid that a handicapped group falls even further behind if it progresses more slowly than the rest of the population."

This is precisely what is happening to Negro Americans. The 33 institutions affiliated with the United Negro College Fund cannot possibly educate all of the Negro and other deprived youngsters who could benefit from a college education. But they are educating one out of every six Negro students attending the nation's 2,238 colleges and universities. And they are the only group of institutions in the country determined to seek out, motivate and educate substantially larger numbers of deprived youth now denied the right to a full education. Their mission, in brief, is to identify potentially capable students and to extend quality education, particularly to those high school graduates who are restricted by poverty or handicapped by inferior public schooling. Every thoughtful American can play an important role in this, the most important educational endeavor of our generation. By supporting the Fund, you will be acting — directly and purposefully — to help thousands of promising students continue their education. By contributing to the United Negro College Fund, you will be helping equalize educational opportunities — without which there is no equality in employment, housing or any other meaningful aspect of American life.

Support THE UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND 55 East 52nd Street / New York, N.Y. 10022 Education is the "great equalizer of the conditions of men . .

the balance wheel of the social machinery."

Contents

TOP OF THE MONTH Special Supplement

Features A Note of Deep Appreciation and Gratitude Lionel H. Newsom Race & Education Thomas D. Pawley Economic Development — a Thrust for Identity Special Supplement Detroit '68 Tim Heard Personnel Programs and the Negro College Isaac Bivens Tentative Program 62nd Anniversary Convention

What Alpha Means to Me James W. Parker, Sr.

The Sphinx has attempted to become a publication embodying social responsibility, depth and sophistication. Thus over the last three years, it has included among its fraternal contents definitive articles dealing with the crisis issues — race relations and civil rights, the small arms race, hunger, poverty, and foreign affairs. In keeping with this new, broader editorial policy, The Sphinx this month presents a special supplement (Economic Development — A Thrust for Identity, pages 17-32).

9 11

17 35

Convention Call '68 By authority vested in me as General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated — I hereby summon our lone living founder, all past and present general officers, regional officers, appointed officers, delegates and all other Brothers not hereby designated — to convene in the City of Detroit, State of Michigan — August 3 - 8 , 1968, for the purpose of conducting the 54th General Convention (62nd Anniversary Convention) of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. I urge representation from all chapters, especially the undergraduate chapters.

Departments Alpha Directory Letters Communique Alpha in Focus Frat Humor Alpha Workshop Alpha in Action

5 6 7 13 33 34 38

Appropriate arrangements have been and are being made for your comfort in both the business sessions, and social activities to follow, at the beautiful Statler Hilton Hotel, located in the heart of the "Motor City." The City of Detroit and our Brothers await your arrival. Each brother is urged to come prepared to give his best thinking to the following: Undergraduate Housing; Ritual and Initiations; Sphinx Guide and Manual; the role of the National Pan-Hellenic Council in the new revolution: the Alpha House of St. Louis development and a re-examination of our programs in Education and Citizenship.

Front Cover: Bro. Dr. Henry A. Callis (r.), last of the Seven Jewels of Alpha, enjoys remarks of Bro. Sen. Edward W. Brooke, principal speaker at the Callis Scholarship banquet sponsored by Mu Lambda chapter, Washington, D. C.

We must look carefully also at the potentialities of — and the possible ways to use the vast resources of the Great Society in the interest of the Fraternity as well as black and white Americans.

Back Cover: Bro. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968). The October issue of The Sphinx will pay special tribute to Brother King and the movement he so nobly led. y- •

• -•—•—•—•—•—•- -» •

By the aforementioned authority, and in obedience to article II, Sections # 1 through # 1 0 of the Constitution and By-Laws of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. (Codified 1 9 6 7 ) — I direct the Executive Secretary to inform each chapter of the necessary arrangements to be made in convening the 62nd Anniversary (54th General) Convention.

•—•—•—•—•—•—•—t

C^c • L 1 8 p. 1 S LIONEL H.

NEWSOM

General President

Negro college fraternity - was founded December 4, 1906, at Cornell University, Ithaca, New Y o r k 0,000 men have been initiated into A l p h a Phi A l p h a . Interracial since 1945, there are now 111 undergraduate tn .18 states, the District of C o l u m b i a , West Indies, Europe and A f r i c a . I w i t h distinction in widely diverse areas and furnish responsible leadership in hundreds of communities. I n the , in the professions, i n government and in civic life it is A l p h a d o m that comprises the heart of the Negro market :ommon loyalty in the struggle for human dignity: with common causes for cultural enrichment; and w i t h historic lpha stands dedicated to the principles on which this nation was founded, A l p h a m e n , everywhere, constructively

t•

U University in 1906. it has espoused many good causes and achieved many victories of benefit to the country, but the scholars and creative leaders who will assist our country in meeting the challenges of the 1960's."

•

J l\ • GnA-^ £itlx*

&-•

JOHN F. KENNEDY

"I think you can measure a company's interest in its people by its willingness to invest in them'.' "I joined IBM in June '65, in operations research. "I liked the work well enough, but after a year and a half I began to think that the ideal field for me was computer programming. (This is Alvin Palmer, an Associate Programmer at IBM.) "But by this time, I was making a pretty good salary. So I was faced with a big question. Would IBM be willing to let me move into a new field which would mean going to school and not being productive for a while? "The answer was 'yes.' I went to programming school full time for three months. And IBM continued to pay my full salary. "I get a tremendous kick out of programming. You're telling a computer how to do its job, and it really gets you involved. Maybe because you're continually solving problems. You don't need a technical degree "Your major doesn't matter. There are plenty of programmers at IBM with degrees in liberal arts or business. What counts is having a logical mind. "I'm making good progress in this field, so I'm glad I was able to make the change. I think it indicates how far IBM will go to help you make the most of your abilities." Al's comments cover only a small part of the IBM story. For more facts, visit your campus placement office. Or send an outline of your experience and educational background to Manager, Corporate Re^k c r u i t i n g , IBM, D e p a r t m e n t APAS, 425 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10022. We're an equal opportunity employer.

The

Sphinx

Volume 54

Number 2

May 1968

ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY, INC. P.O. Box 285 Lincolnton Station New York, N. Y. 10037

Editor-in-Chief Assistant Editor

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Directory for 1966-1967

George M. Daniels Ernest B. Boynton, Jr.

Jewel Henry A. Callis

2306 E Street, N.E.. Washington, D.C.

Officers Contributing Editors Malvin R. Goode, Martin L Harvey, L W. Jeffries, Eddie L. Madison, Frank L. Stanley, Sr., Art Sears, Jr., L. H. Stanton, Charles Wesley, Randolph White, 0. Wilson Winters, Laurence T. Young.

General President — Bro. Lionel H. Newsom General Secretary — Bro. Laurence T. Young General Treasurer— Bro. Leven C. Weiss General Counsel — Bro. Morris M. Hatchett Editor, The Sphinx — B r o . George M. Daniels

3826 W. Manor Lane S.W., Atlanta, Geirgia 30311 4432 South Parkway, Chicago, III. 4676 West Outer Drive, Detroit, Michigan ....

470 Lenox Ave., New York, N. Y.

Vice Presidents Eastern — Bro. Frank J. Ellis Midwestern — Bro. Gus T. Ridgel Southwestern — Bro. Earnest L. Wallace Southern — Bro. Luke H. Chatman Western — Bro. C. P. Johnson

1929 W. Lanvale St., Baltimore, Md. Kentucky State College, Frankfort. Ky. 2018 Van Cleve, Dallas, Texas P.O. Box 1311, Greenville, S.C. 29602 17823 88th, N.E., Bothell, Washington 98011

Editorial Advisory Committee Frank Ellis, Malvin R. Goode, Marshall Harris, John H. Johnson, Moss H. Kendrix, J. Herbert King, Belford V. Lawson, Samuel A. Madden, J. E. Martin, Lionel H. Newsom, Gus T. Ridgel, Floyd Shepherd, L H. Stanton, Felix Warren. Laurence T. Young. Staff Photographer

Henry Crawford

The Sphinx is the ofticial magazine of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., 4432 South Parkway, Chicago, III., with editorial offices at 282 Convent Ave., New York, N. Y. Published four times a year: February, May, October and December. Address all editorial mail to P.O. Box 285, Lincolnton Station, New York, N. Y. 10037. Change of Address: Send both addresses to Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, 4432 South Parkway, Chicago, III. Manuscripts or art submitted to The Sphinx should be accompanied by addressed envelopes and return postage. Editor assumes no responsibility for return of unsolicited manuscripts of art. Subscription: $2.00 per year. Opinions expressed in columns and articles do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and use of any person's name in fiction, semi-fiction articles or humorous features is to be regarded as a coincidence and not as the responsibility of The Sphinx. It is never done knowingly. Copyright 1968 by The Sphinx, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Reproduction or use, without written permission, of the editorial or pictorial content in any manner is prohibited. The Sphinx since 1914. W. Cannon. Henry Lake

has been published continuously Organizing Editor: Bro. Raymond Organizing General President: Bro. Dickason.

Advertising Representative: Howard Sanders Advertising Ltd., 527 Madison Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10022 Second class postage paid at New York, N. Y. Postmaster: Send form 3579 and all correspondence to P.O. Box 285, Lincolnton Station, New York, N. Y. 10037.

Assistant Vice Presidents Eastern — Bro. Conrad Cathcart Midwestern — Bro. Edwin Patton Southwestern — Bro. James E. Glover Western — Bro. Clifford S. Webb Southern— Bro. Harold L. Taylor

1084 Parkside, Cleveland, Ohio 2183 W. 27th St., Los Angeles, California 90018 Morehouse College, Atlanta, Ga. 30314

Historian — Bro. Charles H. Wesley Dir. Ed. Activities—Bro. Thomas D. Pawley, III

1824 Taylor Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Mo.

Chr. Alpha Phi Alpha Building Foundation, Inc.— Bro. William M. Alexander

4272 Washington St., St. Louis, Mo.

REGIONAL DIRECTORS Eastern Region Massachusetts — Bro. James Howard 105 Greenwood St., Boston, Mass. Rhode Island — Bro. Ralph Allen 179 Doyle Ave., Providence, R. I. Connecticut — Bro. W. Decker Clark 66 Dry Hill Road, Norwalk, Conn. New York, Northern New Jersey— Bro. Albert Holland 31 Hickory Hill Rd., Tappan, N. Y. Pennsylvania, Delaware, Southern N. J. — Bro. Frank Devine 6202 Washington Ave., Phila., Pa. Maryland-Washington — Bro. Thomas Hunt 911 Spa Rd., Annapolis, Md. Virginia — Bro. Talmadge Tabb 324 Greenbriar Ave., Hampton, Va. Midwestern Region Indiana — Bro. Montague'Oliver I l l E. 19th, Gary, Indiana Northeast Ohio — Bro. Charles Nunn 10926 Pasadena Ave., Cleveland. Ohio Central Ohio — Bro. Oliver Sumlin 2724 Hoover Ave.. Dayton, Ohio Northwest Ohio — Bro. Robert Stubblefield 1340 W. Woodruff, Toledo. Ohio Southern Illinois — Bro. Harold Thomas 1731 Gaty Ave., East St. Louis, Illinois West Missouri and Kansas — Bro. Edwin Byrd 2533 W. Paseo Dr., Kansas City, Mo. Wisconsin — Bro. Hoyt Harper 5344 N. 64th, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Southeast Ohio — Bro. Paul Turner 2335 Gardendale Dr., Columbus 19. Ohio Western Michigan — Bro. William Boards, Jr 680 W. Van Buren St.. Battle Creek, Mich. Northern Illinois — Bro. J. Herbert King 4728 Drexel Blvd., Chicago, Illinois East Missouri — Bro. Clifton Bailey 3338A Aubert Ave., St. Louis 15, Mo. Iowa — Bro. Ernest Russell 3927 Amherst St., Des Moines, Iowa Southwest Ohio — Bro. Holloway Sells 699 N. Crescent Ave., Cincinnati. Ohio Kentucky—Bro. Herbert Olivera Kentucky State College, Frankfort, Kentucky West Central Missouri — Bro. Jimmy Buford 3548 Park Avenue, Kansas City, Mo. Central Missouri — Bro. Thomas D. Pawley, Jr 1010 Lafayette, Jefferson City, Mo. Regional Secretary—Bro. Cramon Myers 404 West 44th Street, Indianapolis. Indiana Southwestern Region Southwest District - Bro. Floyd Plymouth 1940 Leona, Las Vegas, Nevada Oklahoma — Bro. Vernon L. Fosnee 725 Terrace Blvd., Muskogee, Oklahoma Louisiana — Bro. Elliot J. Keyes 7462 Benjamin St., New Orleans, Louisiana Arkansas—Bro. T. E. Patterson 1624 W. 21st St., Little Rock, Arkansas T e x a s — Bro Reby Cary 1804 Bunche Dr., Ft. Worth, Texas Southern District — Bro. Payton Cook 5139 Palin St., San Diego, Calif. Southern Region Alabama — Bro. Kirkwood Balton Georgia — Bro. Henry Collier Florida — Bro. Herbert Starke Mississippi — Bro. T. J. Ranee North Carolina — Bro. G. H. Vaughn South Carolina — Bro. Luke Chatman Tennessee — Bro. George W. James

1303 Main St., Birmingham, Ala. 1527 Mills B. Lane Ave., Savannah, Ga. 724 N.W. 27th St., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 407 Washington St., Brookhaven, Miss. 1708 Shady Ave., Winston-Salem, N. C. P.O. Box 1311, Greeneville, S. C. 1527 E. 3rd St., Chattanooga, Tenn.

Western Region Northwest District — Bro. Clifford E. Donley 347 - 29th, Seattle, Washington Washington — Bro. Odell Lewis 330 - 22nd Avenue, East, Seattle, Washington Arizona — Bro. William Corbin 2401 W. Cherry Lynn Road, Phoenix, Arizona California-Bro. Carlton Dias 949 Broderick St., San Francisco, California Central District — Bro. Clifford W. Basfield 2245 E. U t h , Stockton, California

Letters to the Editor

Black Power The article Quality Education For All (December, 1967) states therein that "if the civil rights struggle is going to be successful, if quality education is going to be the paramount requirement of our time, both will require white and black participation and commitment in spite of Black Power advocates." Bro. Lionel Newsom's reference to Black Power clearly indicates his lack of knowledge of what Black Power is and what it is all about. I am therefore taking the liberty of sending him some of our material so that he may speak with much more honesty in the future. I hope that he will revise his thinking after having read our material which is enclosed. FLOYD B. MCKISSICK

National Director Congress of Racial Equality Wilkins Lauds Alpha Since its inception over thirty years ago, Alpha Phi Alpha's financial support of the NAACP has been so consistent that many have come to take it for granted. Precisely for that reason, it strikes me as very much in order to assure the Alpha Phi Alpha membership, through your pages, that we in the NAACP cannot and do not take your support for granted. There are at present some 35 chapters of Alpha Phi Alpha which are fully-paid Life Members of the NAACP. Another 40 chapters are subscribing Life Members. Over and above this, the General Organization of the fraternity has authorized an annual contribution whose quarterly payments have come in as regularly as clockwork. President Lionel Newsom has been especially devoted to

the maintenance of this support. I do not need to stress here how thoroughly Alpha Phi Alpha's undergirding of the NAACP accords with the basic commitment of its members to the full use of learning in the pursuit of justice. It is my privilege, as well as my pleasure, to re-state for the pages of The Sphinx our deep gratification that we have continued to merit the confidence the Fraternity has placed in us. ROY WILKINS

Executive, Director National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Arbitrary Policy Concerning an article I sent to The Sphinx to be featured in the October 1967 edition, I hereby inform that Beta Kappa Lambda Chapter was most disappointed to learn that you would treat such subscription in the most ridiculously abridged manner as you did. I am enclosing therefore a self-addressed envelope, with a stamp enclosed, for the purpose of your returning the material to me so that I might think of some other means by which the Chapter might be represented newswise. It is most regretting that a Chapter in good standing such as ours must be the victim of such belittling circumstances. I therefore assure you that unless some assurance is made to us to the contrary, I shall endeavor not to intrude upon your dignity in the future. Thank you to let me receive the above referred to material at your most earliest convenience. DANIEL E. MARTIN

Beta Kappa Lambda Charleston, S. C.

'To Sir, With Love' It is beyond my powers of comprehension to understand why you are so upset over the manner in which the brief piece about Beta Kappa Lambda appeared in the October issue of The Sphinx. Your November 24 letter was rather disappointing to me because I attempted to do an honest job with what I had to work from, and the space available. I'm not quite sure what your objections are. If it is that I deleted so much of your material, I can understand your concern. But one must remember that one can't write everything in October about an event in July and still be current. If your objections hinge on what was said, please remember that all information was culled from what was submitted. Let me also make clear another factor that I believe is basically important to coverage of your chapter news. The Sphinx magazine cannot and should not attempt to serve as the complete communications vehicle of the Fraternity and all of its chapters. Because of limited budget, space and staff, it is impossible. That is why it is necessary that chapters should have their own local newsletters to supplement The Sphinx. More and more, chapters are realizing great advantages by doing so. Being editor of The Sphinx is not an easy task. If I could publish everything that was submitted to my office without having to apply some basic journalistic perogatives, my job would be immeasurably easier, but then I doubt whether Alpha would have even a reasonably sufficient publication. News articles must be rewritten and often boiled down to their essence. Brevity is a necessity and therefore we can't always publish all names that are included in an article. When working for a Negro weekly newspaper in Chicago, that one cardinal rule was to "get the names in" even if we had to distort the facts or leave them out completely. I believe that what chapters do is often more important than who does it. Picnics and things are great fellowship activities, but they don't rate headlines or more than a few lines of type. (Continued on page 10)

• Communique • Disagreeing with those who call for the abolition of college fraternities, Bro. Senator Edward W. Brooke declared that he has faith in these groups and said he was especially fond of his days in Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Senator Brooke, principal speaker at the Henry A. Callis Scholarship Fund Banquet sponsored by Mu Lambda Chapter, gave an account of the establishment of fraternities in the United States. He noted that fraternities started in 1776, when the country was born, and that many U. S. presidents were members of Greek-letter fraternities. "Many, including students, have advocated abolition of college fraternities," Brother Brooke said. He observed that movements in colleges and universities all over the country are examining the role of these organizations and are asking if they are worthy of continuing. The Massachusetts Republican said colleges in his own state also have raised questions about the merits of fraternities. He cited William and Amherst as examples. Senator Brooke told of his days in Beta Chapter at Howard University, and later his role as vice president of the Eastern Region. The senator said those who advocate abolition come from the undergraduates themselves — not from those denied entrance — but from those who are members of fraternities. "They feel that college fraternities have not performed their roles," he added. "The alienated generation, the 'turned-on' generation that ofttimes we turn off is concerned with Vietnam, civil rights, black power, and black separtism." Senator Brooke said we have taken the position that something is wrong with this young generation. "We don't understand them, and they don't understand us," he continued. He said the problems of segregation and discrimination have been resolved, and racial barriers have been torn down by most fraternities. He related that many have rebelled against their national bodies and have gone local, creating their own rules and procedures for induction. "They have been very critical of the staid rules handed down to them from generation to generation," Senator Brooke declared. "What's going to happen to us? We have been tied to the Negro colleges. Even the fate of Negro colleges is dubious." The senator said integration has brought about many changes in the predominantly Negro schools. "This represents a great challenge to us, and to Negro colleges," he continued. "Many believe that if integration is really going to come to this nation, we may not have Negro colleges. This may well mean we will not have Negro fraternities. "When Alpha Phi Alpha was founded, Negroes could not join other fraternities." Senator Brooke pointed to changes in this pattern, but he noted still another pattern peculiar to Greek organizations. "Older men played the dominant roles," he said.

Hors de Combat

Odds, Ends & Other Things

Eastern Region Seeks To Broaden Outreach

He welcomed the changes which have given more participation to younger members in Alpha. Brutality toward Sphinxmen is one of the most appalling of all problems continuing to plague undergraduates, reports Bro. James Ervin Glover, assistant Southwestern vice president. "Any brother who insists on the physical beating of potential Alpha men displays not only our lack of coherence, but also his own feeling of gross insecurity. No true Alpha man adheres to this primitive practice. But, inasmuch as those few brothers who do so are rampant, they are traitors to the true and living ideals of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity." Bro. Glover concludes by earnestly asking all brothers to "assist in every effort to rid ourselves of such debauchery." Alpha Phi Alpha Building Foundation has made a $500 grant for use in the summer program of Beta Chapter, Washington, D. C. Proposed space needs for a new General Office have been made, and final working papers submitted for disposition. In addition to a housing development in the St. Louis area, the Building Foundation is considering several other sites for similar operations. Alpha Phi Alpha History has been re-printed in a lot of 1,500 copies. The Historian is considering the possibility of revising this publication into two volumes, or revising it completely into a single volume, in 1968. The Directory will be published in 1968. As of June 30, 1967, Alpha Phi Alpha had an active roster of 7,108 brothers, the largest active registration in its history. At his third Staff Conference, in Arlington, Va., Bro. Frank J. Ellis, Eastern Region vice president, had an excellent turn-out of brothers â&#x20AC;&#x201D; presidents, secretaries, and representatives â&#x20AC;&#x201D; from across the Eastern Region. Bro. Otha Brown, director of Alpha Outreach, reported on how chapters, not yet fully involved, could develop a good Outreach program. It was stressed that if youngsters were selected and a program built around them, the commitment would involve chapter membership more fully. Bro. General President Lionel H. Newsom commended Bro. Ellis and the Eastern Region on the work being carried on. Also attending the Staff Conference was newly appointed Field Secretary, Bro. Charles Williams. A look at Beta Alpha Chapter at Morgan State College in Baltimore, Md., reveals that it has: is* Crowned Miss Yvette McNair as its queen. is Celebrated Founder's Week with the annual Alpha College Bowl, a Sports Day, a "Night at the Arts", and a Scholarship program for Freshmen and Sophomores excelling academically. ^ Awarded a scholarship to a college-bound Baltimore boy. f Sponsored a Christmas Party for underprivileged children of Baltimore. i> Continued to uphold the leadership tradition of Alpha at Morgan, boosting the highest number of elected campus office holders. j x More students on the Dean's List and in Who's Who than any other campus fraternity. *^ Started an "Alpha Outreach Program" of giving inspiration and guidance to fourteen boys through sports events, cultural programs, educational and pleasure trips, tutorial sessions, as well as other general socializing experiences. i^ Held a Men's Fashion Show; an Alpha Barn Dance, to raise money for its scholarship fund; a Jazz Show; orientation of a spring Sphinx Club, and inducted fifteen new brothers. Bro. Kenneth Clark, a senior physics major from Pasadena, Md., is president of the Chapter.

I Beta Alpha On The Move

BW&X

. . . A Note of Deep Appreciation and Gratitude By LIONEL H. NEWSOM, General President As we near the end of my tenure as general president and my last attendance at regional meetings as your general president, I wish to thank you for the confidence and faith you have shown in my leadership up to the present. I am grateful to those of you who have left no stone unturned to raise Alpha to higher heights; to those of you who have done everything you could to eliminate brutality and barbaric behavior during pledge week and initiations; to those of you who have done everything to make a hopeless people full of hope; and to those of you who have taught our young people to compete more successfully. Each year since I assumed the highest and most honored office available to a Brother within the beloved brotherhood of Alpha, I have greeted you with a growing appreciation for what you are doing across this nation. Not only am I grateful to you for what you are doing for Alpha Phi Alpha but also for what you are doing to make our country a real democracy. Each year I glory in your unselfish efforts in assisting others to become intelligent voters, capable students and more qualified participants in the American society. I congratulate you for your dynamic courage as you help downtrodden minorities win with increasing prevalence the most precious prizes offered in our society. While I am aware of the progress we have made since our humble beginning in 1906, I am significantly alarmed at how far we must go from here to equality. Brothers beloved, we must not hesitate nor slacken the place, but we must accelerate the momentum of every successful forward step. We must continue to help others elevate their socio-economic level and

cultural sights toward human dignity, manly respectability and self-discipline. It is no less true today than it was in other revoluntionary days that the nearer one gets to the goals he seeks, the tougher and more fierce the struggle becomes. We must, as others have done in the past, become more thoughtful, more disciplined and more responsible as we assume the mantle of leadership. Under the able and friendly leadership of our Vice Presidents, Bro. Frank J. Ellis, Eastern Region; Bro. Gus T. Ridgel, Midwestern Region; Bro. Ernest Wallace, Southwestern Region; Bro. Clifford P. Johnson, Western Region: and Bro. Luke Chatman, Southern Region, I know that the Brothers in all of the Regions will accept both the challenges and the opportunities to move our Fraternity and our nation forward. The choice is ours to preserve the fruits of our labor as we courageously destroy prejudice, discriminatory practices and inequalities that continue to fester the minds and hearts of bigots and demagogues, both white and black. It is neither easy nor comfortable to face a world of agonizing frustrations, racism, and denials which permeate President Johnson's Riot Report, but the choice is still ours. A nation burned to a crisp is of no value to anyone, the victorious or the vanquished. My Brothers, let us use our "Brainpower" as we go into battle with a cry of "Build Baby Build, Vote Baby Vote, Learn Baby Learn, and Lead Baby Lead." Education and the ballot are still the keys to survival. Let us repeat with confidence, "Alpha men accept their lives not as vessels to be drained but measures to be filled."

LETTERS (Continued from page 6) My concern now is improving the quality of The Sphinx. I believe this is gradually being done, but I realize that much still needs to be done before this is accomplished. Let me be more specific. When T became editor in 1965, The Sphinx was, in my opinion, over burdened with mishmash about cocktail parties, boat rides, picnics, and the usual traditional little things that so many Alpha chapters spend so much time doing. While T certainly believe that these things are important to building Alpha and strengthening fellowship among Brothers, there are other activities that need Alpha's attention, too. Many Brothers had complained that The Sphinx was not publishing enough sociologically-based articles dealing with the problems of the Negro and the nation as a whole. Other Brothers complained that The Sphinx carries too much news about happenings that projected Alpha in the same old way during a time when revolutionary changes are taking place. In light of this, I have tried to cover as much chapter news as possible, within limited space. That's why much of it is carried in the two newly-created newsletters sections (Communique and Alphain-Action). The only pictures accepted for publication now, are those that are technically good and will add quality to our magazine. I have attempted also to broaden the total editorial concept of The Sphinx by diversification of subjects of major articles. This has not pleased some Brothers, who feel that nothing but Alpha material should go in our publication. But Alpha is more than an isolated organization without diverse interests. Brothers are found to be leaders in every field, and their concerns are broader than often accredited. The December issue bore much of this. Two professional journalists, both Alpha Brothers, started regular columns. There was a major photo-feature on the small arms sweepstakes. A radically new departure was the inclusion of the article

Christmas and Steel by a convict at the Menard State Penitentiary. Then there was Dr. James Nabrit's Black Power and the University. Changes will take time. I strongly feel that they will not be an accomplished fact until the May issue. Presently, we are still experimenting with features, layout and method of presentation. Hopefully by May we will be able to select the best ideas of the last eight issues that I have edited, and put them into one package for presentation to the next general convention. I hope then to be able to say that here, at last, is a magazine representative of Alpha. Please bear with me, Brother Martin, and I think you will be satisfied. Doing this part-time places rather heavy pressure on me, but I think we're finally getting somewhere with The Sphinx. As to returning your material, I hope to do so shortly. Usually we do not return material because of the shortage of staff and the length of time it would consume ordinarily. Since I have been editor. I have started a file on every chapter that has sent in material, whether it has been used or not. This is being done to assist the next editor at some future time. Had such files been made available to me, my task the first year would have been much easier, indeed. T H E EDITOR

light most favorable to The Sphinx style of publication. It is quite possible that my feelings regarding the treatment of the article was due to the fact that our regular editor for Beta Kappa Lambda Chapter had been derelict in his duties as far as preparing an article is concerned, and the same was delegated to me for the purpose of having our Chapter represented in some way in our national magazine. The Sphinx. I attempted to do this by covering the picnic, as it was my understanding that an article for our Chapter had not appeared in The Sphinx for at least four years. Therefore, the anxiety, along with the disappointment, coupled with the lack of understanding served as an explosion which went out of control, for which I presently apologize. It would be nice if Alpha Phi Alpha could employ a full-time editor, so that the stress and strain of doing this as a part-time task could be eliminated. Should you desire to publish my original letter, thereby considering it newsworthy, please feel free to do so, as I am sure it will aid others in realizing the importance of making sure that their brain is in gear before their mouths are put in motion. Thank you for your most informative correspondence. DANIEL E. MARTIN

Beta Kappa Lambda Stop and Think It is with the greatest of sincerity that I thank and commend you for explaining to me in full detail the workings, true aim. and optimistic hope of The Sphinx. My letter to you in protest concerning the treatment of my article was written at such a time when my understanding of The Sphinx was not at its greatest point, as I was under the impression that The Sphinx was designed for the purpose of publishing whatever material is submitted to it so long as it was not ridiculously voluminous and foreign to the precepts of good taste. However, now that 1 understand your reason for reducing my article to its lowest terms, I hereby apologize and assure you that I will make all future submissions in the

A Critical View I've been noting with deep concern. the escalating roles and values of the Fraternity in slowly evolving into a bourgeois social organization for the elite and prosperous graduate brothers. It is also apparent to me that the graduate brothers are gradually dominating all phases and functions of the Fraternity, slowly, but surely, reducing the voice of the undergraduates. I find this to be most alarming, for if such a situation is allowed to be continued, an alienation between graduate and undergraduate brothers would emerge. It must be kept in mind, utmost, that the existence and prominence of (Continued

on page 16)

tunity in America's Cities: Problems and Programs for Change." Its goal as enunciated by Conference Director M. Carl Holman was "to promote the active search for remedies to racially isolated education . . . (to) offer practical solutions to the problems we face . . ." The ultimate test of whether this goal was achieved will be the extent to which the hundreds of delegates returning to their communities are able to effect changes. Beautifully structured, the Conference offered the delegates position papers. workshops, and clinics in addition to addresses by the President of Teachers College, Columbia University, the U. S. Commissioner of Education, and the Director of the A. Philip Randolph Institute.

RACE &

EDUCATION By THOMAS D. PAWLEY

Two years ago President Johnson wrote to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, "It has become apparent that such (racial) isolation presents serious barriers to quality education. The problems are more subtle and complex than those presented by segregation imposed by law. The remedies may be difficult. But as a first and vital step, the Nation needs to know the facts." Here was a tacit admission at the highest level of what has become increasingly evident •—• that the Supreme Court decision desegregating the public schools has not created equal educational opportunity. This directive led to a massive study, the results of

which were published in summary form in March, 1967, under the title Racial Isolation in the Public Schools. It revealed the fact that the public schools of America are still segregated, pinpointing the causes—housing, fiscal disparities, racial isolation in the central city schools, educational policies and practices—the results, and suggesting the remedies. On November 16-18, 1967, in the sumptuous surrounding of Washington's Shoreham Hotel, the Commission sought to implement the findings of its two-year study through a national conference on the theme "Equal Educational Oppor-

However, many participants expressed openly their chagrin and frustration at "so much talk." Indeed one distressed gentleman from Indiana, faced with an ultimatum from his community to bring back the answers, said that he would be forced to report that the conference had been "a waste of time." No less upset were the representatives of MexicanAmerican groups who picketed the conference on Friday afternoon, protesting against alleged discrimination by the U.S.C.C.R. "toward Mexican-American and other minority groups." One very vocal delegate charged, "This is a black and white conference." My own reaction was mixed. I attended the Conference as the representative of the recently reorganized Alpha Phi Alpha Education Foundation, hoping to find the problem to which the Foundation might address itself. I also came seeking solutions to the perplexing problem of continuing, voluntary segregation among Negro and white students at my institution thirteen years after this traditionally Negro college was desegregated. In the former instance I found several projects which the Foundation might undertake with the assistance of private or public funds. I shall make recommendations in this regard at the Detroit General Convention. My search for solutions to the more immediate problem was to say the least disappointing until the last morning in a clinic entitled "From Desegregation to Integration."

With the insight of a sage and in language generously interlarded with the speech of the ghetto, a young Negro high school student from Richmond, California, "layed it on the line" to his adult audience. While his statements were directed toward the public schools, I found much that might be useful in a college. Hearing him I felt rejuvenated. From him I learned that we need to turn to the kids themselves for solutions. And don't play them cheap, baby. They know what's happening. To return, however, to the end results of the conference. I suppose the hiatus

Addenda There is a vast amount of conference material available to the public. Especially significant are the position papers and films presented during the conference and listed in this supplement. Others including a list of publications on display may be secured by writing the U. S. Commission on Civil Rights, Washington, D. C. 20425. Films A Chance at the Beginning — A solid foundation in preschool provides for the fullest development of children from limited environments. Harlem, P.S. 68 and Dr. Martin Deutsch. (ADL—30 min.) Children Without — Detroit's Franklin School Community, students, and teachers are the stars of this true-life film showing how teachers provide positive learning experiences through the technique of establishing warm personal relationships with children of need. (NEA-ADL—30 min.) Equal Protection of the Law—The community and school board roles in the desegregation of schools in Riverside, California. (Baily Films—30 min.) The Hard Way — It's getting harder. Education, employment, dropping out, the poverty cycle, and the search for solutions in St. Louis (NET—30 min.) Marked for Failure — Harlem's P.S. 1 19 and Principal Eliott Shapiro show that what children of the ghetto need — and are entitled to — is a restoration of a child's right to curiosity. Highly recommended (NET—1 hour) My Name is Children — Give them some respect, some freedom with support, a building designed for flexibility, and a wealth of resource materials — and children not only learn, they may even have something to teach. (NET—-1 hour) The Quiet Revolution — Or "How to make a colorful, fast-paced, fascinating film on innovations in teaching aids." Would you believe a guided tour by Virgil and Dante, accompanied by the Barzuti Bearcat Band? (Stanford Universitv-NEA—30 min.)

between goals and achievement in the face of such a monumental problem might have been expected. However, I do not feel that the conference was a failure. To the contrary for those who came seeking help there was a good deal of sharing of information, knowledge, and techniques. No one listening to the addresses, papers, and discussions could be oblivious to the fact that we have reached a point of crisis in educating minority groups which only bold solutions of the kind being employed at Evanston. Illinois, for example, will ameliorate. This in itself is a worthy accomplishment.

Starting English Early—The varied techniques of teaching English as a second language to pre-school Spanish-speaking youngsters are demonstrated by an expert teacher and what must be the most charming group of kids under the California sunshine. (NDEA-UCLA—30 min.) The Way It Is — Innovation and compensatory education in Harlem's P.S. 57. a junior high. A well-done, interesting film on NYU's promising experimental project. (NET— I hour). Papers prepared for the National Conference on Equal Educational Opportunity in America's Cities sponsored by the U. S. Commission on Civil Rights, Washington, D . C. How Evanston, Illinois Integrated All of its Schools, prepared by Gregory C. Coffin, Superintendent of Schools Community Consolidated Schools, District 65, Evanston, 111. Desegregation or Integration in Public Schools? The Policy Implications of Research, prepared by Irwin Katz, the University of Michigan. School Desegregation: Progress in Eight Cities, prepared by Robert T. Stout, Assistant Professor of Education, Claremonth Graduate School, Claremont, Calif. School Desegregation in Berkeley, California, prepared by Spurgeon Avakian, Judge of the Superior Court of Alameda County, Oakland, Calif. Business Involvement in Greater Hartford's Educational Experiment, prepared by Harlan C. Judd, Manager, Community Services Department, Greater Hartford Chamber of Commerce and James F. English, Jr., President, The Connecticut Bank and Trust Company, Hartford, Conn. The Syracuse Campus School Plan, prepared by Franklyn S. Barry, Superintendent of Schools, City School District, Syracuse, N . Y. School Integration in Syracuse, New York, prepared by D. H. Jaquith, President, Syracuse Board of Education, Syracuse, N. Y. White Plains Racial Balance Plan, prepared by Carroll F. Johnson, Superintendent of Schools, White Plains, N. Y.

A Proposed New School Format, Continuous-Progress Centers, prepared by Jack Greaves, Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Schools, Seattle, Wash. Big City School Desegration: Trends and Methods, prepared by Robert A. Dentler and James Elsbery. School Desegregation in Berkeley: The School Superintendent Reports, prepared by Neil V. Sullivan, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools, Berkeley Unified School District, Berkeley, Calif. Report on Techniques for Achieving Racially Desegregated Superior Quality Education in the Public Schools of Chicago, Illinois, prepared by Meyer Weinberg, Editor, Integrated Education, Chicago, 111. The New Role of Educational Parks in the Changing Structure of Metropolitan Area, prepared by Dr. David Lewis, Urban Design Associates, Pittsburgh, Pa. Compensatory Education in the Equalization of Educational Opportunity, prepared by Dr. Edmund Gordon, Chairman, Educational Psychology and Guidance, Yeshiva University, New York, N. Y. Teacher Training Designs for Improving Instruction in Inter-racial Classrooms, prepared by Dr. Mark Chesler, Crusk, Institution for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. Crisis in American Education: A Racial Dilemma, prepared by Robert Green, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich. Urban Suburban Cooperation as an Educational Solution for Defactor Segregation, prepared by Dr. Alexander Plante. State Department of Education, Hartford, Conn. Can Federal Programs Help Negroes Leave the Ghetto, prepared by Bernard Frieden, Associate Professor of City Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. A Redefinition of Educational Problems Occasioned by Desegregation and Title IV of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, prepared by Dr. Elias Blake, Jr., Executive Associate, Educational Projects, Inc., Washington, D. C. Policy for the Public Schools; Compensation or Integration, prepared by Dr. David K. Cohen, Visiting Associate, Joint Center for Urban Studies for Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, Mass. The Contribution of Private Schools to Racial Integration in American Education, prepared by the Very Reverend Monsignor James C. Donohue, Ph.D., Director, Department of Education, U. S. Catholic Conference, Washington, D. C. Legal Aspects of Metropolitan Solutions for Problems oj Racial Isolation, prepared by the Office of the General Counsel, U. S. Commission on Civil Rights, Washington, D. C. Alternatives to Existing Public Schools: Another Look, prepared by Dr. Kenneth B. Clark, President, Metropolitan Applied Research Center, New York City. The Consequence of Racially Isolated Schools: Another Look, prepared by Dr. Thomas F. Pettigrew, Associate Professor of Social Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

APPOINT POLK JUDGE Brother Judge Billy Jones (r.), former Alpha General Counsel and immediate past Mid-Western vice president, congratulates Brother Ora Polk upon his recent appointment as a Magistrate of the 20th Judicial Circuit of the State of Illinois. Brother Polk said that he was proud that Alpha Phi Alpha dominated the Negro Judiciary in' the 20th Judicial Circuit Court of Illinois.

HONOR COLLEGE PRESIDENT Praising Brother Dr. Richard V. Moore (c.) for "unequalled fidelity, integrity, vision and sacrifice," Methodist Bishop James Henley (I.) of Lakeland, presented the Bethune-Cookman College president with the Mary McLeod Bethune medallion in honor of Dr. Moore's 20 years as president of the college. Mrs. Richard Moore looks on.

ALPHA'S 'CANNONBALL' Bro. Julian "Cannonball" Adderley joins Brothers of Gamma chapter backstage of Virginia Union University's concert auditorium following a spirited jazz concert given by the alto saxaphonist and his group. Pictured (I. to r.): Alfred L. West, dean of pledgees; James E. Wright, Jr., vice president; Mr. Adderley; Thomas D. Harris, 4th; James W. Coleman, and William E. Jackson, Jr., president.

OUTSTANDING ALPHAS Four Brothers of Delta Beta Lambda, chapter, Hampton, Virginia, recently received significant honors for their outstanding contributions to education, civic and community affairs. Pictured (I. to r.): Garland A. Cooke, assistant professor, inducted into the Quarter Century Club; Walter R. Brown, retired dean of men at Hampton Institute, received the Institute's Centennial Medallion; Charles H. Williams, alumni trustee, honored with centennial Medallion; and Isaiah B. Perry, Department of Mechanical Technology chairman, inducted into the Quarter Century Club.

FOR UNITY "Band together! Refrain from any idea of self-centeredness," declared General President Lionel H. Newsom, speaking to students and faculty of North Carolina's Elizabeth City State College. "The ideal of Pan-Hellenism is unity," he said. "The basic philosophy of the Greeks in their great culture was unity." A nation or group lacking unity will fail, Brother Newsom pointed out. "Certainly this would be true for the PanHellenic concept." Pictured (I. to r.): Thomas L. Caldwell, past president, Epsilon Chi Lambda; Luke H. Chatman, Southern vice president; General President Newsom; D. F. Walker, Alpha Life Member; Henry L. Felton, of Beta Zeta, and Burke C. Newsome, charter member of Epsilon Chi Lambda.

ALPHA ON MOVE AT JOHNSON C. SMITH General President Lionel H. Newsom (2d I.) poses with Brothers at Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, N. C, during Spiritual Emphasis Week. Pictured with Brother Newsom are advisors and undergraduates of Alpha Omicron chapter.

CHAPEL SERVICE At a special chapel service at Wilberforce University, Ohio, graduate and undergraduate brothers of Xi heard Bro. Robert L. Pruitt of New York speak. Seated (I. to r.): Alex Barton, advisor; Robert L. Pruitt, Rembert Stokes, Wilberforce University president; Booker Thomas, Henry Boyd, and Don Griffin. Standing (I to r.): Larry McCul lorn, president; Charles Walker, Dwight Sparks, treasurer; Richard Bundy, Edwin Terry, Frank Finley, Leo Ross, secretary.

NAACP LIFE MEMBERSHIP Beta Omicron Lambda chapter, Mobile, Ala., has taken the first step for life membership in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People â&#x20AC;&#x201D;by writing a check, of course. Pictured (I. to r.): Sigmund Herman, charter member of chapter; Dr. R. W. Gilliard, local NAACP president; and Alvin P. Allen, secretary.

LETTERS (Continued from page 10)

ALPHA QUEEN Elected queen of Delta Maryland State College, Md., is Miss Joyce Pinder, a sophomore majoring in

Nu Brothers at Princess Anne, of Vienna, Md., nursing.

NAACP HONORS Two Alphamen of Theta Pi Lambda of Las Vegas, Nevada, were honored for outstanding service at the 1968 NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet. Above: Bro. Dr. Bert Babero, professor of zoology and parasitology at Nevada Southern University, was named NAACP's "Man of the Year." A member of the Nevada Equal Rights Commission, he recently chaired a conference engaged in analyzing Nevada's minority group problems. Below: Bro. William Bailey, businessman and former chairman of the Nevada Equal Rights Commission, was presented the Meritorious Service Award. Brother Bailey is also a TV personality.

Alpha Phi Alpha is solely dependent upon its perpetuation at the undergraduate level. The brotherhood attractiveness of Alpha Phi Alpha is continually being personified in the high calibre of young men being initiated into "Alpha Land." These young men were attracted to Alpha Phi Alpha because of its high ideals, aims, and goals. Prerequisite for joining wasâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; and isâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that they possess high moral standards, good academic status, and sincere desire to become a loyal and earnest Alpha. Their undergraduate experiences, by being an Alpha, are most enjoyable, rewarding, and fulfilling of their individual needs. Their experiences with graduate brothers and the national officers, however, are oftimes limited, cold, and impersonal. All too often, the undergraduate brothers find it difficult to bridge the communication gap between themselves and the graduate brothers. It is also noted that their cries for assistance in functioning their particular chapters is, for the most part, unheeded by graduate chapters and alumni. Therefore, further expansion is placed in the communication gap. Immediately upon the termination of their matriculation days, they are confronted with bridging the pronounced financial, cultural, and social gap between themselves and graduate level brothers, thus, the disillusionment element tends to dullen the light of Alpha within their hearts. It would indeed be a worthwhile study to find out what percentage of brothers associate themselves with graduate chapters, especially those right out of college! This communication dilemma has been recognized by several dedicated national officers, and they have attempted to "iron out" this predicament, through the efforts of regional and sectional conventions, oriented to undergraduate affairs. The significance of these conventions have been reduced to mere tokenism efforts, unfortunately, primarily because hosting chapters exploited them with social emphasis. I maintain that little can be accomplished in such large meetings.

It would be more realistic to meet with the individual chapters, for their individual problems and programs can be individually helped and guidelined. The role of the undergraduate chapter has changed greatly over the last decade. With increased demands from school administrations, compelling them to constantly justify their existence, and the rising cost of living, the undergraduate chapter is no longer a pseudo-responsibility haven. It is now a big business operation, and the undergraduate brothers are not adequately equipped with time, finance, or general administrative knowledge to effectively run fraternity business alone. Undergraduate chapters on predominantly white campuses are under extreme strain. They must compete with white fraternities whose manpower, financial, and alumni resources far exceed those of the best Negro fraternities. Either they effectively compete, or school administrators will lower their status to that of a mere social club. The fact that school administrations are attempting to force integration upon white fraternities is also confronting these particularly situated undergraduate chapters. School administrations are seeking to eliminate all predominantly-Negro fraternities and to force their members into the white fraternities. These being the facts, I beseech all graduate brothers and their respective chapters to ally themselves with an undergraduate chapter. Be their guiding and inspirational force. Share in their planning and activities. Most of all, support them in spirit, body, and money. BRO. JESSE L. WILLIAMS

Toledo, Ohio Wants to Join Having recently read portions of your magazine The Sphinx, and after talking about your organization with a friend who is an active member, I find I would like to join Alpha Phi Alpha myself. In this regard, I would appreciate receiving from your office, as soon as possible, any necessary forms, etc., for membership approval and acceptance. JOHN POLLARD

Short Beach, Connecticut

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT

ECONOMIC A THRUST

DEVELOPMENTFOR

IDENTITY

On December 7- 8,1967, in Washington, D C, Sengstacke Publications sponsored a symposium on the urban crisis, looking at it from the position of business, the motor force of our society. Realizing the importance of economic development as an integral part of the Negros crusade for equality and justice, Alpha

Phi

Alpha Fraternity, Inc., with special permission, publishes for its 36,000 members, and others, the seven major papers delivered at that historic conference. T H E EDITOR

JOHN H. SENGSTACKE President, Sengstacke Publications This is the first Annual Conference of Sengstacke Publications and the fourth induction of the Chicago Daily Defender's Fellows of the Round Table of Commerce. The Round Table has broadened the circle of its Fraternity for the ultimate purpose of widening the horizon of our economic frontier to the fullest dimension of our intellectual aptitude and our material resources.

We are witnessing perhaps the strangest phenomenon since the fall of the Roman Empire: a fabulously rich country struggling to free itself from the tentacles of a giant octopus â&#x20AC;&#x201D;poverty. The whole course of American history has been toward economic security, both as a means to individual salvation and as a national prescription for independence and power. Though these are worthy, profitable ends they lose their intrinsic values when the supporting evidence is suppressed,

pushed under the rug. All too frequently in estimates of the labor which cleared the forests, dug the mines, grew America's national greatness we overlook the contributions of the Negro at earlier stages of this greatnessâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;contributions without which there would have been a very different course of history. The first and most vital contribution of the Negro was the staples which were the material foundation of the New World. The coming of the Negro to this continent was dictated by the demand for labor only. It was this labor that paved the way for the machine, for the full flowering of the industrial age, for big businessâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;of which the slave traffic itself was the first. Negroes followed Columbus and worked the mines in the first impetuous search for gold after the Indians had perished by the hundreds of thousands. The Negroes did not die, but out of their brawn new wealth was created. Their labor supported tobacco, the first staple crop of the New World. They alone could live in the swamps where rice, another staple, was grown. Black sugar-makers from Barbados supported the first successful cane refining experiments in Louisiana. The world knows the story of cottonâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;how Negroes cultivated all of it at the time the South commanded the cotton market of the world. The great battles of the world were won not by the Caesars who survived to write their memoirs but by the nameless black soldiers who died to make possible these victories. Now. all this is forgotten. The Negro becomes a problem to be argued about and debated in the legislative halls as to his place in American society. He has to fight in the streets and in the courts to assert his rights after a hundred and four years of emancipation. And on the social scene, despite all the talk about Brotherhood, the black man is still a beggar at the door of the temple. Even among those who talk the loudest about Brotherhood, some, to quote Walter Reuther. would "drop the brother and keep the hood". But from the mountains to the prairies, from the small towns to the big cities, the great tragedy of American life, is the failure of big business to shoulder its moral responsibility to the masses, especially the Negro masses. Some months ago. President Johnson, through the Secretary of Commerce, sought the help of the nation's largest business firms in solving the critical slum problems. There was a shocking lack of adequate response. Some simply said they would not help. True, we have climbed a little on the political ladder. The black vote at long last has begun to have its impact by power of conscious unity. And we have gained some ground on the civil rights front. Negro business, however, is still struggling against tremendous handicaps, for a clear and unhampered pathway to become full partners in our economic system. Its initiative has been blunted, its progress blocked by what

bears the ominous appearance of a collective, organized conspiracy. In this regard, we of the Negro press together with the active support of the Fellows of the Round Table of Commerce, shall take a long, wide, deep and searching look into the vast empire of American industry to find the road block and the demolition team that is feverishly engaged in stripping the scaffolding to the structure of Negro business. We want to know what the imperatives are upon which rest the organized hostility to Negro business. We will give wide and detailed publicity to our findings. The wall of antagonism that has been erected against us must come down if the exhortation to rugged Americanism is not to be viewed as the emotional outburst of a disordered mind. This will has helped to sustain the philosophy of disgruntled skepticism that pervades every layer of the Negro community, giving rise to apprehension, frustration and fear. Some of us are wondering whether or not this alienation by big business is not, after all, the hidden root-cause of the social unrest that plagues the nation today: whether it is the bastion behind which is hidden the white power structure which is responsible for the rise of militant black power. The three great motive forces that have guided America's destiny are the desire for economic security, the thirst for individual independence and the will to succeed. These, I believe. John Kenneth Galbraith of Harvard, the nations leading economist, would agree, form the warp and woof of American civilization. They are the key which has unlocked the door to American prosperity, influence and power. It has now become an American tradition to create out of the crucible of power, more affluence and greater power. This tradition will not long survive the test of time if it continues to fail to include the black segment of the population in its power equation. As Professor Galbraith says in his classic book The Affluent Society, "The enemy of conventional wisdom is not ideas, but the march of events. Ideas are inherently conservative. They yield not to the attack of other ideas but to the massive onslaught of circumstance with which they cannot contend". *

!|!

SJt

ROSS D. DAVIS Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development U. S. Department of Commerce Negroes make up about 11 percent of our country's population, but the businesses they own and operate serve less than one percent of the available market in any one sector of the economy. A harsher fact is that Negro businesses contribute less than two percent of the Gross National Product. But there are some notable successes among Negro businessmen, as you are well aware. Many of those who have succeeded did so by trading exclusively with Negroes.

In his book "An American Dilemma," Gunnar Myrdal, the Swedish sociologist, points out that segregation has helped the Negro to achieve success in banking and insurance businesses as well as with service and retail establishments. A similar point is made by Andrew F. Brimmer, now a member of the Federal Reserve Board. He has noted that Negroes have achieved their greatest success in businesses by what he calls the "protective tariff" of segregation. Areas benefiting from this tariff are the professions, services, banking, insurance and retail firms. But what lies ahead for the Negro businessman? The rapid breaking down of social restrictions is eliminating the "protective tariff" of segregation. We see this each day. At the same time the growing Negro market is becoming attractive to the general business community. Thus the Negro businessman must prepare to compete in the open market for profits. He must learn to use better management techniques such as computers, bookkeeping, inventory control, market information and advertising. He must also get better management training and experience. I think the franchise business is one route. Under this system, the Negro businessman will be able to maintain ownership status while using the facilities of the parent organization. Among his advantages are management guidance. prestige and, in some cases, financing. Another way of competing is through cooperative efforts among closely related enterprises. Savings can result in areas such as information gathering and exchange, purchasing. employee training, research and advertising contracts. EDA technical assistance can be used in helping to form such co-ops. In a moment I will discuss some examples of how this is already being done. There is a second important question to answer: What has the Federal Government done to help the Negro businessman? My own experience embraces the efforts of two Federal agencies in this regardâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the Small Business Administration and EDA. While at SBA and working with Gene Foley, I helped to launch the 6 x 6 pilot loan and management in Philadelphia. As you may know, this was especially geared to the Negro businessman who has difficulty borrowing money. Loans of $6,000 were made for six years, and management counseling and training were provided under the project. The program was so successful that it was expanded to five other cities. Congress later included the concept in the Economic Opportunity Act while expanding the amount and term to $25,000 for 15 years. Another way that the Federal Government is helping the Negro entrepreneur is through lease guarantees.

Under provisions of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965, SBA was given the authority to guarantee the leases of small businessmen for up to 10 years. I feel that this is quite significant because without the guarantee it had been difficult to attract mortgage money for commercial or industrial construction in run-down or slum areas. EDA's most significant contributions to the economic improvement of the Negroâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the poverty-stricken unemployed Negro, as well as the Negro businessmanâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;have been through our technical assistance program. Unlike other EDA operating programs which are restricted to certain designated areas, technical assistance may be used anywhere there is a need to overcome problems blocking economic growth. This program helps to reduce high unemployment and underemployment in central-city poverty areas. It helps to retain existing jobs and to attract more jobs for the people living in these areas. It assists with job training and with providing job information for poverty area residents. And it helps minority and other small businessmen to improve their management skills so they can survive and expand to make new jobs. Let's look at a few examples. We have worked with a number of cities in projects to help keep present jobs and attract more jobs for inner-city areas. In Chicago we financed a major study to find why industries were leaving South Chicago and what could be done to reverse the trend. One dramatic result has been the launching of a project that is expected to mean 7,000 new jobs in two to three years and 15.000 jobs over a 10-year period. This will be the development of an industrial park in the Stockyards district. The City announced plans for this project after we were able recently to designate six square miles of Chicago, including the Stockyards, for EDA financial assistance. The designation was based on the substantial rise in unemployment resulting from the closing of the Stockyards. The Stockyards substantial impact now become an Program for Job cities in the Test October.

development, which is expected to have a on the unemployed living in the area, has integral part of President Johnson's Test Development. Chicago is one of the five Program, announced by the President in

The Test Program offers a broad range of Federal assistance to private industry that hires the hard-core unemployed. The Federal aid is intended to offset the extra cost encountered by industry which provides jobs for the disadvantaged. Studies aimed at helping to establish industrial areas and attract job-generating industries to central-city areas have been or are being undertaken in San Francisco, San Diego, and Brooklyn. And in cooperation with the Model Cities

program, technical assistance is financing studies in Atlanta, Baltimore, Buffalo, Denver, Minneapolis and St. Louis. These studies are designed to identify jobs that could be made available to the hard-core unemployed and opportunities for expanding industry in the inner-city. It is perhaps in the category of aid for minority and other small businessmen in inner-city poverty areas that you have the most interest. Our technical assistance program is supporting efforts in nine cities to help establish more neighborhood businesses in inner-city poverty areas. This program also seeks to improve management of minority-owned businesses in those areas. These projects are being carried out in cooperation with universities, local civic groups and local development companies. In one of these projects EDA is cooperating with the Business and Defense Services Administration, another agency in the Department of Commerce. Through the small business guidance and development center at Howard University, the project has created the Capitol Dry Cleaners Association. The Association has brought together many small dry-cleaning establishments in a cooperative program that provides training in physical appearance, operations, personnel administration, purchasing and advertising. Another example is "Project Outreach" being conducted by the National Business League with financing chiefly from funds provided by EDA and the Office of Economic Opportunity. This training and business development program will operate in 12 pilot cities. It will aim at producing 40 candidates for management trainee jobs, 240 trainees who will open new business on a sound basis, and the training of 500 persons now in business to improve their skills. These are only a few ways in which technical assistance has been helpful. Now let's take a brief look at what the Federal Government, and specifically EDA, can do in the future to help the Negro businessman. EDA can continue the technical assistance programs just described and work with the Negro community to devise new ways of providing this valuable assistance. In qualified areas EDA can provide business development loans and training funds to help new or expanding Negro businesses. The Federal Government can help establish channels of communication through which business information can reach Negro entrepreneurs. It can encourage State and local governments to include more Negroes in local action programs. The SBA Local Development Company prognm can provide capital for Negro business ventures. Virtually unused in large urban areas, this program enables SBA to lend a local non-profit economic development corporation 80 per-

cent of the funds needed for land, buildings and equipment for 25 years at 5Vi percent interest. Maximum loans are $250,000 for each small business assisted up to $3.5 million for 10 or more small businesses helped by one development company. This program might be coordinated with urban renewal projects in slum areas. The Business and Defense Services Administration can continue to provide management assistance to Negro businessmen. Much of the thrust of this program is aimed at franchising and participation in government contracts. I think we can agree that Government programs can help to lift the Negro economically. They can help the struggling small businessman to survive and in some cases to grow and create jobs for less fortunate members of his race. But they can only Help. A more substantial and enduring lift for the struggling Negro entrepreneur, and for the struggling Negro of any description, can come only from those of his race who have been fortunate enough to overcome the obstacles and to scale the heights economically. I am referring to those people who have it made, so to speak. Are successful Negro businessmen assuming the role of leadership? What has happened when a Negro has fought his way to the top economically? He has earned financial securityâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;often on the patronage of other members of his race who had little or no choice of where to trade? Does he follow the traditional route of many of his white counterparts and say, "I've earned my way, it's up to those below to make their own way up?" That is the natural inclination. No matter what race, the man who has won the battle is usually ready to sit back, collect his laurels and enjoy the good life he has earned for himself. The late Franklin E. Fracier, former Professor at Howard University and President of the American Sociological Society, once charged that Negro businessmen catered "to the worst in white society" and lacked involvement in the aspirations of the Negro lower classes. Whitney Young, president of the Urban League, has been quoted as expressing concern about the growing social gap between Negro middleclass leadership and the masses they are called to lead. Mr. Young pointed out, however, that the children of this middleclass are now inclined to throw themselves into the civil rights struggle. Not all Negro businessmen shy away from involvement. Many of the most outstanding figures in the Negro business community are also active in civil rights and service organizations. Let me cite a few examples: Asa T. Spaulding. Durham, North Carolina, insurance executive; Henry G. Park, Baltimore, Maryland, business leader; Norman B. Houston. Los Angeles, insurance executive; and Arthur G. Gaston, head of many businesses in Birmingham, Alabama.

Mr. Gaston has been quoted as saying Negroes need a "Martin Luther King of economics who will fire the people up like they are being fired up for civil rights." I agree with Mr. Gaston that there must be leadership and strong leadership from the Negro business community if the Negro is ever to achieve his full share of the economic pie of our nation. Let me presume to offer some suggestions for Negro business leaders. 1. Work with the Community Action programs and other programs of the Office of Economic Opportunity. In all of these programs there is a crying need for more participation by the successful members of your race. 2. Organize local development companies that will take advantage of the opportunities offered by SBA and make jobs for long-term, hard-core unemployed Negroes. 3. Help organize and finance Negro construction companies that can take part in urban renewal developments. 4. If your business lends itself to it, offer franchises to small Negro businessmen; otherwise, seek to establish branch plants or offices in Negro neighborhoods that will provide jobs for the unemployed. Perhaps many of you are already doing many of these things. But you can use your influence to encourage other successful Negro businessmen to get involved. In the slums of our great cities there are thousands of citizens who are isolated from the opportunities and rewards of our free enterprise system. They are cut off from the opportunity to earn the incomes that will enable them to live the full lives of other Americans. These include not only the long-term unemployed, but also those in treadmill jobsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the dishwasher, for example, who sees no escape from his drab day-after-day grind. Also in this group is the marginal small business operator with no chance to penetrate the outer business world. These people see all around them the rewards of the free enterprise system. They see on television and in the newspaper and magazine ads the products that make life today the best in all history for most Americans. But they do not see a door for them to this wealth. For them there is no hope to earn more than a bare living. This is the isolation I refer to. You hold the key to hope for these people. The successful businessman is rewarded in many ways. But perhaps the most gratifying accomplishment he could achieve would be leadership in breaking the barrier of this isolation. As I mentioned earlier, in October President Johnson announced his pilot program to involve the business community in creating jobs for 500,000 hard-core unemployed, largely in slum areas.

This program goes right to the heart of everything I have been discussing here. It merits your attention and support. * * * * *

ALFONSO J. CERVANTES Mayor, St. Louis, Mo. Not long ago there were three important political announcements. In a city where 65 percent of the voters are Caucasian, Negro Carl B. Stokes was elected Mayor. In 90 percent white Boston a candidate for Mayor, with sly racial overtones, boasted, "You know where I stand." They did. And Mrs. Hicks went down in defeat. And in Gary, Ind., Richard G. Hatcher, the great grandson of a Georgia slave, emerged as the number one peoples' choice. These political victories in the midst of a national so-called "racial backlash" dramatized to the world that our political system is viable and creative. Minorities can and will prosper under our traditional American two-party democratic political system. But what about our economic system? Does our traditional free enterprise economic system hold out as much hope for our minorities as does our political system? Can the growing masses of the disadvantaged that are being concentrated in the ghettoes of our country look forward to being integrated into the mainstream of the United States' booming economy under our present economic system? I say "No" . . . I say "no" . . . unless private entrepreneurs such as yourself and myself show greater initiative in obtaining training, employment and psychological support for our country's three million unemployed. Three million is a mighty army of unemployed. There are, however, six million workers presently moonlighting; there are thirty inches of "Help Wanted" ads in the daily papers for every one inch of "Job Wanted" ads; there are at least two million jobs that could be made available if industry had the determination and the trained unemployed. If this country would consider our domestic war against poverty as important as our foreign war and foreign aid and conquest of space, we would make giant strides forward. We would overcome by steady attrition our own central cities' vast army of unemployed. On March 31, 1967 Secretary of Labor W. Willard Wirtz gave to President Johnson the results of the Labor Department's special unemployment survey of the 20 largest metropolitan areas. This shocking study indicated that a third of the country's almost 3 million unemployed are concentrated in our major central cities. It found the ghetto jobless rate to be three times that of the national average. More specifically it found that Negro unemployment is 2.5 times that of the national average and that the 'subemployment' rate is an astounding 34 percent in slum areas.

It is noteworthy that this official study found that unemployment and poverty are caused by personal handicaps, rather than by the country's economic condition. "No conceivable increase in the Gross National Product would stir these backwaters," the report stated. Further, it called slum unemployment "primarily a story of inferior education, no skills, police and garnishment records, discrimination, fatherless children, unnecessarily rigid hiring restrictions, and hopelessness." The report concluded with this observation: "Though the involved here are deplorably high, the number of people involved is comparatively small. The barriers to their useful employment are serious, but they are removable barriers. The problem is clearly at manageable proportions."

Private enterpriseâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;-with proper assistance by creative entrepreneurs and tax advantagesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;can assimilate our disadvantaged minorities! The Aerojet General Corporation, Xerox Corporation, General Dynamics, and the present endeavors of the Ford and Chrysler Corporations report similar successes. The experience of such private corporations must be amplified and multiplied industry by industry, community by community, and factory by factory. It can be done. It is up to us to do it. *

BERKELEY G. BURRELL President, National Business League

It was our Secretary of Housing, Dr. Robert Weaver, who correctly stated: "The single most striking fact of the American city is that its fate is bound indivisibly to the fate of the American Negro." And more specifically I maintain that the ultimate salvation of the cities, and the ultimate salvation of the slums, lies not in high-rise public housing, or welfare programs, or some types of housing code enforcement, or "central-city only" freedom of residence campaigns, or even in federal training programs that are not allied with industry's provision of jobsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;though all of these may be helpful and are indeed necessary.

The National Business League can properly say to you: "Welcome to our club," for the promotion of entrepreneurship, business development, management guidance and counselling are what we are all about and have been for some 67 years. The magnitude of the task, the difficulties of achieving positive accomplishments in the face of near total hopeless frustration, makes it mandatory that all of the forces in our society join in the battle. All of you then, and the organizations you represent, are welcome indeed to our crusade for entrepreneurial equality and economic growth and development.

Ultimately aggressive entrepreneurs, such as ourselves, must figure out ways to integrate the disadvantaged into the economy and disperse the slums, or it will soon be necessary to despair not only of the slums but of the total central city. Either businessmen will learn new techniques of job simplification, personnel management and skill development for the disadvantaged and take over the leadership of the thrust against chronic unemployment, or it will be necessary to withdraw from the central city and seal it off as a contaminated Pandora's box of the rich American metropolitan area.

Looking at the title chosen for our deliberations, we are inclined to suggest that Economic Development as a Thrust for Identity must be recognized as merely one facet of the multiple goods to be derived from the creation of a meaningful class of minority entrepreneurs.

Let me give you an example of what creative entrepreneurship can do. During the past 24 months St. Louis' McDonnell-Douglas Corporation through on-the-site and on-the-job training has trained 15,189 persons, including 5,633 Negroes. Unskilled persons, lacking high school diplomas, but not necessarily lacking police records, were developed into workers who could hold their own on jobs requiring precision accuracy. McDonnell wisely invested $8,000,000 in providing the unskilled with 17-week courses, paying them $66 a week as trainee recruits. At the end of the course they were earning $97.20 a week and had become union members. Many have since advanced to better paying jobs such as sheet metal assemblers and riveters, electrical and radio mechanics, and aircraft production mechanics. Not only has there been job integration but through weekly "family nights" 34,000 employees and their family members over ten years of age have enjoyed social integration. As one worker's wife said, "If it could only be like this in all communities."

We have to start with the recognition that the business of business is the motor force of our society and profits the fuel for its operation. It is the cash flow, credit manipulation and profits generated by business activity that provides for our nation the world's most affluent material society. We have to recognize that wages, taxes, government social programs, all of these, derive essentially from the complex yet basically simple business of profit-making. Looking further, we find that we live in a "status" society. A social environment stratified by achievement measured in terms of dollars. And back again to the processes of wealth creation: profit-making. Government services, social services and kindred activities all follow in one manner or another from the profit-making processes of our private business community. If then, the profit-making process permeates so completely our total social environment, the economic development of our deprived ethnic minority citizenry goes far beyond the mere thrust for identity. Such evolvement is critically important for the basic total good of our society. It is the tool with which our society measures its components and assays the worth of each. Entrepreneurship provides the single, supreme vehicle through which the individual citizen can develop his self-esteem, match wits on a "man-to-man" basis

with his contemporaries and achieve a destiny that the individual alone determines for himself. His status in our society is established by his own skill, determination and perseverence. More important, perhaps, is the psychological effect that his activities have on the sample population around him. Stop in any shop—no matter how small or economically insignificant—and you will find an entrepreneur who is highly regarded by his immediate peers. It does not matter whether his business is a shoe-shine parlor, a dry-cleaning shop, or a pool hall. The very fact of his being in business for himself develops a kind of respect and, in many cases, a mild form of hero-worship in his friends and associates. It is axiomatic among Americans of all classes that ones acquaintances determine ones net worth. The individual himself may be only a half-step away from bankruptcy, but if he is in business or has a standard home or a middle-price car (whatever that is), in the eyes of his friends he's "got it made." So the ghetto business operator serves as a symbol of success no matter how significant for the people who know him. Looking, then, at the tiny entrepreneurial enterprise in any slum anywhere in the nation, we find the latent leadership potential that can stabilize and motivate these troubled areas. The one thing that can inspire and make any American jubilant is money. For the urban poor, the local business operator is a symbol of money earned and status gained. The next logical step is the improvement of the economic position of the enterpriser and the commitment of his leisure to the intensive motivation of his peers. No citizen is in a stronger position to influence his fellow citizens than the barber, the beautician, the pool hall owner, the shine stand operator, the cafe proprietor or any one of the myriad other entrepreneurs who comprise the NBL. If we can organize these people and arouse them to a recognition of their own self-interest inherent in the improvement of their fellow citizenry, we have the nucleus of a stable, rational community leadership. However, there has been an abdication of this responsibility by the more affluent Negro business operators. In all too many instances, NBL has found that the affluent are so ruggedly individualistic that they find it difficult to identify with the very small and the very poor. We can only suggest that a close examination of the facts of our economic life will reveal that our problems are common to each other and that there is no security for any of us except in the development of the very highest degree of security for all of us. As we examine our multi-racial society with its economic and social stratification as an entity, we are compelled to concede that the majority population looks at each ethnic bloc as an entity. The old adage that "one Negro looks like any other Negro" applies to every other ethnic group. The social relationship of whites to blacks changes imperceptably slowly and on a person-to-person basis. So in these

unsettled times, when a nation is struggling to ameliorate just grievances in the face of blatant reaction to violence, it falls the responsibility of the educated responsible citizenry to provide a balance of rational thought to the babble of contention. It is the position of the National Business League that no other force in our society can do as effectively the taming of the teeming slums as can the business fraternity. Uncluttered by basic sociological doctrine, uninhibited by political restraints, but concerned primarily with the normal legitimate pursuit of profits, the business community can direct its full resources and commitment to activities assuring measurable economic improvement. The techniques are no different from those that were employed in building the merchant ships of World War II nor those involved in the industrialization of the nation. But there is one significant difference: We must be a cardinal party to the processes of urban redevelopment. The majority business community has to join hands with us in a partnership for economic progress. It is the responsibility of the business community—as a normal part of its pursuits of profits—to act as the anchor shareholders in a corporation to renew our urban centers. Big business must work with us and government to create an urban cultural environment that will yield a stable, progressive and enriched society. The majority business community can join hands with the capable minority entrepreneur—bringing to the partnership the equity capital resources and expertise that has made this nation the envy of the world. Together we can forge the kind of success symbols and models for our posterity that darkskinned children yet unborn will be eager to emulate. And we must do this, for to fail is to flirt with destruction and miss a golden opportunity for great achievement. The profit potential is immense in terms of dollars and the ancillary social benefits are profound. For when the day comes in this country when the deprived minority citizenry can look around and see everywhere the material accomplishments of their own kind; when Negroes, Puerto Ricans, Mexican-Americans can all see the rapid revitalization of their cultural environment and realize that it is the work of their own kind, then the instinct of pride will give way to the competitive drive for superiority. All of the old "Civil Rights" arguments will dwindle into relative insignificance as men begin to measure each other by their accomplishments. Free, unfettered enterprise, the competitive pursuit of profits, the inspiring drive for expansion of effort to achieve economic superiority, all buttress the culture that we know. It is a way of life that had its beginnings with the drummer on horseback and the buckboard peddler. It has progressed to huge international combines. If the system is to thrive and continue, it is most imperative that we re-seed the stock from whence today's modern businesses derived: the individual entrepreneur.

But we do not propose that every ghetto corner be provided with a store front and stock. This is no more practical than the 40 acres and a mule that foundered during reconstruction. What we are saying is that in today's modern technological business society, the concept of business enterprise must be forced-fed into the urban-ghetto environment at a level that recognizes the facts of today's competitive business life. NBL takes the position that inter-racial business combinations must be of the size and stature that will employ significant numbers of low-skilled or non-skilled urban residents. We hold that business must join hands with us in creating the type and size of business institutions that will allow the indigenous populace to recreate its own environment. The kinds of business establishments that can be competitive and profitable in the kinds of commercial settings that will reasonably assure fiscal success. Certainly, we cannot ignore—nor would we want to—the mom and pop corner grocer. What we would want to do is to put them into a modern franchised convenience shop that will offer them a higher profit ratio and increased business. Other similar small enterprises can be made equally profitable by similar adjustments. But the major thrust of our effort must be aimed at the establishment of larger business enterprises that make a visual impact within the deprived community. There can be no question that successful entrepreneurial activity yields a sense of positive identification. Such efforts create pride, respect and esteem. But by the same token, such matters are highly relative. They are fiercely related to the cold stratification of our total social body. A case in point is the life insurance industry. The very largest Negro firms is 159th or thereabouts in the list of all U . S . insurance firms. So, they are literally "nobodies" in the eyes of non-Negro insurance men. Within the Negro community, conversely, our No. One firm is highly regarded and most respected. At the other end of the spectrum, the barber shop operator is not only respected by the dozen or so people who know him, but a considerable segment of the Negro populace regards him with a measurable degree of esteem. So it is that we must conclude that the development of entrepreneurship in and of itself establishes an identity. It creates respect. It promotes self-esteem. It advancs in an infinitesimal way the economic good of the community. It would follow, then, that the full and rapid development of a broad-based, successful minority business class will insure to the great good of our society. However, we cannot say with certainty that these good benefits are transferable to the larger picture of the total society. Only future sociologists can make such an evaluation. But it is reasonable to assume that the complete development of a significant business class will indeed be most salutory to the total society. The benefits of such a positive image are perhaps immeasurable, but certainly they are all to the good of the nation. Look around us today and we will find that no one anywhere in the world makes a greater contribu-

tion to human existence than the U. S. businessman. If his skin from time to time matches the pigmentation of the majority of the world's peoples, the probability is that a greater understanding and mutual respect will evolve. Today, we are caught up in the vortex of history's resolute movement toward a destiny we cannot foretell. The spinning winds of change in our society are more violent and determined than most of us dared to ever envision. The forces of defiance stand resolutely in determined stance, bidding the winds to spend their fury. None of us can say how the storm will turn. But all of us can join forces to mute its ill effects. If we start now to build and strengthen our dikes, we have a right to anticipate the frustration of the flood at the rivers edge. The NBL has assembled its multiple programs into a concise package we call Project Mainstream. All of you should get to know about our efforts and contribute your share of support to their accomplishment. We aim far beyond identification. Our thrust is toward the day when the American business community will be colorblind and vigorously pursuing profits wherever they may be found. Sooner or later, the guns in the far east will fall silent. A sizable chunk of business activity will become dormant. At that point, the urban centers of the nation will offer a new frontier for economic activity. We can and must be a meaningful force in the exploitation of this vast new field of business development. We are the population in being that will provide the profit opportunity. It is essential that we use the vast opportunities before us to re-kindle the spirit of enterprise and risk-taking. In the end we will gain our identity and a very great deal more. t

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I. E. KILLIAN Eastern Region Manager Humble Oil & Refining Co. Humble Oil's interest and involvement in minority groups is not one of a "Johnny-come-lately." Some of you may remember "Billboard" Jackson who joined a Humble predecessor company back in 1934. Over the years, "Billboard" devoted much of his time with Wendell Alston, another of our community relations representatives, to recruit Negro dealers and service station driveway salesmen throughout the eastern and northeastern section of the United States. As a result of these early and sustained efforts, we have today a large number of Negro dealers in Humble stations across the nation. (Just as an interesting aside—We have 29 Negro dealers right here in the Washington area. Three of these men have been Esso Humble dealers for better than 30 years. We have one 15 year man and four 10 year men. Twelve local men joined ranks as our dealers within the last three years.) This is particularly significant here because the retail gasoline business in this area is better than average. These men make a good living and, besides providing em-

ployment for others, they stand as fine examples of minority representatives who have made good. We are constantly endeavoring to locate, train, and place more minority employables in service stations, both as dealers and attendants. As we see it, this is a policy that must not only be adopted—it must be activated by business and industry if we are to make real progress in creating jobs and developing the small business opportunities that are needed. More than a year and one-half ago in a Chicago speech, our Board Chairman, M. A. Wright, who—at the time—was president of the United States Chamber of Commerce, said: "The business community's involvement with social problems must take on a new look. Businessmen can no longer afford to restrict their efforts to supplying money and criticism in the search for solutions to these problems, they must bring into play their leadership and their analytical capabilities. They must help devise new and better approaches to the existing public programs." That's exactly what we did in Baltimore, where—at just about the time Mr. Wright made his observation—we agreed to cooperate with the local officers of the Congress of Racial Equality in their Target City Project. As the Baltimore Evening Sun announced at the time: "At a tiny service station in East Baltimore, a comic, bug-eyed tiger and a snarling black panther have been harnessed together for a common purpose." Translated, of course, this meant that Humble Oil and CORE had cooperated to open a small service station—previously operated and later closed by a competitor—in the heart of East Baltimore's ghetto. It is now operated as an Esso Station by CORE under a $121,000 grant from the United States Department of Labor. It is, I am told, the only Civil Rights activity of its kind in the country funded by the Government. This small service outlet, the centerpiece of CORE's experimental Youth Training Program, started with an enrollment of eighteen Negro boys. They ranged in age from 17 to 21. They were all school dropouts, many of them with prison records. A seventeen-week course was set up to train the youths as service station attendants with future possibilities as managers or dealers. To date, fifty nine students have graduated. Of the twenty one students who graduated in the most recent class last Friday, nineteen are employed and two expect to be placed shortly. We trained four of CORE's key men as instructormanagers at our local dealer school. After graduating from an eight week course, these men became the teachers in the classes at CORE's headquarters. Students spend sixteen hours a week working at the station and sixteen hours in class at the project offices across the street. In addition to courses related to running a business, they learn Negro history, English, mathematics and public speaking. The long-range goal, CORE leaders say, is to nurture entrepreneurship (there's that word again!)—the first step in developing a community of modest Negro-operated busi-

nesses. The immediate goal is to provide jobs for the youths and to give them their first direct and meaningful involvement in the mainstream of American economic life. Perhaps more important than training the youths in business management, project officials say, is the process of "resocialization" which helps them to see business ownership as a very real possibility for themselves. One of CORE's original instructors recently returned to our training school to prepare to go into the service station business himself. After he completes his course and his loan application is approved by local Small Business Administration officials, he plans to operate a Humble station, staffing it with help trained at CORE's outlet. Since Washington and Baltimore are within the Region which I manage for our Company, let me cite another case of the proverbial "local boy makes good" with which I am very familiar. In 1941, Robert Holt graduated from Morgan State College in Maryland with a B.S. degree, after having established a fine record in football, wrestling and track. He started doing things on a sort of "5 Year Plan" basis for the first fifteen years of his career. In succession, he farmed, sold insurance, and sold wholesale alcohol. Then, after selling frozen food plans and a fuel economizer, he decided to get into the home heating oil field. As he explained it, "I met many customer prospects while selling the fuel economizer, so I called Humble and asked for a home heating oil distributorship." But he did not have the capital to buy a going business, so he worked with one of our veteran reseller specialists to create one. He acquired an old but durable truck; he rented an office and, since he had no storage of his own, he filled his equipment at Humble's local supply point. Various members of Bob's family and relatives pitched in. All of his men —at one time or another—went through Humble's oil burner training school. In short, Reseller Holt's willingness to work, his quick grasp of the economics of operating a sound business, coupled with Humble's cooperative counseling have steadily moved him along the road to success. Already, his volume has reached 1,225,000 gallons a year of home heating oil. This is delivered to approximately 1,500 customers, each of whom is known personally by both his drivers and himself. In the words of our company representative who worked closely with Mr. Holt from the start, "Bob has been a star pupil in creating business." The significant thing about this story—and it applies equally well to our CORE experience—is that the fundamentals are not new. It points out that what we really need to create jobs and business openings is not the dramatic breakthroughs or the great innovative schemes some have been clamoring for. What we in business have to do is what we have always done—except that we have to do it better. We must examine our past experience and, after adjusting our approach to fit each local situation, proceed to set up

workable solutions . . . aimed at training people in the most effective manner, in the shortest space of time. I stress the local situation for the reason that our experience shows that the assurance of success is largely predicated upon many factors of local origin. We can never assume that a successproducing formula in Boston will be readily transferred to New Orleans, or Chicago, or San Francisco. We call this "pinpointing the market." It is an essential course which points the way to success for the dealer and accordingly, for the company. Skipping across the country, I'd like to cite another example of Humble's flexibility in adjusting to an unusual set of circumstances to help solve a problem. Most, if not all of you, are familiar with the Watts area of Los Angeles. Working with a local citizens group there, our Company people leased a large and modern, high potential Humble service station to an agreed-upon representative. The station was then specially set up as a training center to prepare neighborhood young men for service station employment or work in other automotive-related lines. After slightly more than two years of operation. 200 men have completed the course and are now gainfully employed. Eventually, I'm sure, some of these trainees are certain to move along into businesses of their own. In Newark, New Jersey, our Company is cooperating in another type of job and business-building effort. This is a community demonstration project, spearheaded by public agencies, with substantial active support of several other of the city's major business firms. It is designed to upgrade skills and provide jobs for heads of families whose earning ability is simply not enough to support both parents and children without public assistance. The facilities of our modern Dealer Training School were made available to teach station merchandising and maintenance procedures to an initial group of six Newark husbands and fathers in one of the program's most recent phases. Some of the most advanced training techniques used in modern business were enlisted. Training films and slides, tape recordings and field trips— including visits to successful, high-volume service stations— were utilized to present the material as effectively as possible and to relieve the monotony that sometimes hinders classroom achivement. The initial group recently completed the intensive four-week course of instruction with jobs at Humble stations being made available to all of the graduates. Thus the door was opened to those men and the chance of eventually becoming independent businessmen, operating their own stations, was made possible. While these positive programs are moving forward with the help and cooperation of business, it is an ironic fact of life that more and more individual Americans seem to have become less inclined to turn to private enterprise for solutions, or to solve their own problems. Evidence is mounting that more citizens are inclined to have others, especially the

Government, attempt solutions for them. Traditional faith in the individual approach, in independent action, in private initiative is waning. What one Senator has called "The Washington Reflex"—the tendency to discover a problem and throw money at it, hoping it will somehow go away—has seemingly become respectable. As if this weren't serious enough, let's look at another troublesome aspect. With the jet-propelled advancement of our present-day society, even the education explosion itself, the cornerstone of the nation's progress, is not a completely unmixed blessing. There is, for example, the very basic challenge of keeping abreast of the pace of change ushered in by education. Today in the United States there are about 400,000 scientists, more than three times the number of just 20 years ago. Moreover, to meet the expanding technical objectives of our nation, approximately $25 billion has been committed this year to research and development. The interaction of this concentration of scientific brainpower and research money will surely bring about not only more complex transformations, but it will have them occur at an ever-accelerating rate. This poses the danger of having our knowledge and power out-pacing the understanding and wisdom with which it is used. It may also create the more fundamental problem of maintaining a viable balance between the nation's workers and the available jobs. As the pace of change quickens, it will become more difficult to match the abilities and skills nurtured in classrooms with those required by the nation's economic and social institutions. Over the next several years, the skills and training of our labor force will need to be upgraded at a rate never experienced before. Estimates by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for example, point out that the economy will need about four million additional skilled workers over the next ten years. Just consider for a moment that number—4 million additional skilled workers—and its implications! For unless educational and industrial institutions remain alert and responsive to these rapidly-changing needs, the result could mean serious dislocations of America's human resources. Some evidence already points up this disturbing possibility. A recent National Industrial Conference Board report showed that in the nation's slum areas, 34 per cent of all workers were either unemployed, under-employed, or not looking for work because they knew jobs they could qualify for didn't exist. The Conference Board concluded that the unusually high jobless rate in the slums was in large measure caused by the disparity between skills needed in the labor markets and those actually possessed by these workers. Certainly, we need no more conclusive evidence of the urgency of this problem. Nor do we require further confirmation of the need for placing increasing emphasis on job making and the establishment of small business opportunities, especially for the minorities. 1 am pleased to have had this opportunity to tell you how

Humble Oil is working to meet this challenge. I personally believe that the strength of our nation is in large measure a result of dependence on a democratic free enterprise system. Under this system we have placed the highest value on private initiative and the interaction of private individuals and firms in a predominantly free market. Unfortunately, as I indicated, in recent years, a growing portion of the nation's economic activity has been influenced or carried out by the Government sector. And if the nation continues to believe that private enterprise cannot help solve its many social, economic, and political probelms, an even larger share of the total economic activity and other efforts will move from the private sphere. The alternative, of course, is for business to re-think some of its traditional objectives and determine if it can do an even better job of fulfilling its main goal — that of satisfying human needs and human desires.

or it can lead to mounting frustration. Outside help can come in the form of two major methods. The first, is to raise income through jobs, job training courses and the opening of job opportunities to all persons regardless of race, creed or ethnic origin. The second, is to make home ownership available to the lower or moderate income families.

As a manager for a large segment of Humble's business. I can assure you we're happy, anxious and, indeed, privileged to take up this challenge and assume a part in this great effort to develop "entrepreneurship among minorities" — as Mr. Woods so well described it. The examples I cited have a multiple payoff. For the community, they mean less unemployment, small relief rolls, less despair and a reduced potential for riot. For business to assist in these efforts, there is also a multiple payoff. For one thing, it's doing something constructive about the most profound social issue of our time. And who would deny it is not good for business. It increases the market for industry's goods and services while reducing its tax burden. More important, however, it demonstrates that the private enterprise system, with its vast potential for organizing, setting priorities, approaching problems analytically, and getting the optimum results at the least cost, still has relevance and meaning in the unique and continuing experiment we call the American Dream.

1. CDA was credited as a non-profit corporation to use public funds for equity and FHA insured and conventional mortgage money in the construction and rehabilitation of moderate-income housing. The Board consists of five members appointed by the Mayor who sit with the five members of the Chicago Housing Authority Board.

* * * * *

IRA J. BACH

The lower or moderate-income levels are generally recognized to be just above the public housing eligibility limits — for families earning between $6,000 and $11,000 a year. My organization, the Chicago Dwellings Association, is primarily concerned with serving the needs of this segment of our population — especially those with large numbers of children. There are various avenues of approach to these problems and I would like to describe some of them that are in the various stages of our current work-program. First of all, let me give you a brief history of our organization:

2. CDA was established in 1948 and about $6.5 million was made available by the State Legislature through The State Housing Board. This money was placed under control of the CHA for the CDA. 3. From 1948 to 1965 — C D A constructed a total of 900 dwelling units consisting of multi-family apartments as well as single family houses. The houses have been sold and the apartments rented. 4. I was appointed Executive Director in July 1965 by the Board of Directors. At that time the Board authorized an expanded program coupled with a substantial increase in staff. Our currrent program is as follows:

Executive Director, Chicago Dwellings Association Throughout the history of civilization economic progress has led to the growth of cities. And cities have consequently come to dominate the culture of man and to symbolize human attainment. Yet the city has ever been a paradox of splendor and squalor. Much that is urban has become dismal and devoid of beauty. At the same time, it is also the scene of exciting changes and progress. There is a long history of studies associating overcrowded and dilapidated housing with loss of self-esteem, lack of privacy to permit concentration on school work, and loss of parental authority as children are forced to play unsupervised out-of-doors. Insufficient income has been the deterrent for obtaining decent housing for most families. The income squeeze — lack of money to meet needs— can have one of two effects; it may lead to action designed to reduce the number of children — a n d to paring down of family expenditures;

RECEIVERSHIP As an adjunct to the city's building code enforcement program CDA is appointed receiver for buildings that owners, for one reason or another, are unable to maintain as standard housing. By November 1967, CDA has been appointed receiver for 454 buildings containing 4.770 dwelling units. Of these, 110 buildings contained 1,400 dwelling units have been brought into compliance either by CDA or by owners under CDA supervision. Another 60 buildings containing 570 dwelling units have been demolished. Our policy is to assist the city and the courts by being effective in supervising owner's work and taking over buildings under emergency basis. These families are in the lowest income brackets. Most are welfare recipients and are presently beyond participating in home ownership.

LA WNDALE REHA BILITA TION Lawndale is a large west side slum area in Chicago. Three significant programs have been initiated to provide large scale concentrations of rehabilitation in Lawndale. If successful there, it can be done in other parts of the city. Chronologically they are as follows: 1. Chicago Plan represents an important change in policy by the F H A to enable the CHA acting for CDA to purchase and rehabilitate buildings at a block a time and finance under one mortgage. A two block area is now underway. This is financed under the FHA 221 d 3 with a special allocation of $3 million a year for 3 years — 3 per cent — 40 year amortization. 2. U.S. Gypsum Lawndale Project is now rehabilitating five buildings containing 150 apartments as the beginning of an extensive program in a five-block area. This is part of a very significant, program whereby various city departments are assisting property owners to rehabilitate. This will be financed under the Chicago Plan FHA 221 d 3 with a four-way contract involving — CHA-CDA-USG and FHA. 3. HUD-DUR

Lawndale Rehab. Project

A 20 block-pilot program to rehabilitate 1,000 dwelling units in Lawndale was announced on September 24, by Mayor Daley and Secretary of H U D Robert Weaver. Most significantly, rents after rehabilitation will be kept in their present monthly range. Mayor Daley and Secretary Weaver signed an agreement providing for two-thirds of the cost of the project. A unique feature is that the grant will provide for flexibility in adjusting the re-sale price in order to achieve the present monthly rental range. Another unique feature will be that CDA after or before completion might develop cooperatives or condominiums in some buildings. This will be made available to the present moderate income families. 312 PROGRAM We are working on another significant pilot program in West Garfield with the assistance of the Neighborhood Service Center. This area is just north of Lawndale. Three buildings — containing 36 apartments that have large 4. 5 and 6 rooms, will be sold as condominiums. We will purchase the buildings with a first mortgage from the Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company — 6Vi percent for 20 years. As a second mortgage, the rehab will be financed under Section 312 — 3 percent for 20 years. Down payments for the condominiums will range from $300 to $450. Monthly payments including debt service for both mortgages and assessement will range from $75 to $140. This project, if successful will demonstrate habilitation using public and private financing and that occupant owners can be expected to conserve and maintain property. Organizations will be set up to assist families in management and maintenance techniques.

4. NEW

CONSTRUCTION

1) Mayor Daley officiated last month in ground breaking at Washington-Hermitage Project on a site made available to CDA by the DUR. It is a 5-acre site on which we will build 108 town houses for sale at prices ranging from $17,500 to $21,000 with a $200 down payment. The monthly terms are low and will range from $115 to $145 a month. This enables moderate income families to own homes and the low down payment coupled with low monthly payments are significant to this moderate income group because these elements are more important to achieving home ownership than the price of the unit. The project will be sold as a cooperative with the Foundation for Cooperative Housing acting as the selling agent and providing the expertise in the management of the project. More about this very promising project later. Scattered Vacant Single Family House Program 2) On October 30 Mayor Daley and Howard Green, Great Lakes Mortgage Company announced a $3.5 million from the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company commitment to finance construction of moderately priced houses in the inner city. This is part of the $1 billion program recently announced by the insurance companies to President Johnson. About 200 houses will be constructed on lots made available by demolition. They will have three bedrooms and cost about $18,000. The FHA 203-B mortgages will be for 30 years with $800 down payment. The $140 a month payments will include interest, principal, taxes and insurance. This is the kind of housing a family earning between $6,000 and $11,000 can afford. IRS

RULING

CDA was advised during the early part of September that we are now qualified to accept certain slum buildings as gifts. James C. Downs, Jr., Chairman, CDA Board, said at a subsequent press conference that "Owners of some of the now unprofitable slum buildings in Chicago will be offered a chance to get rid of them and gain an income tax deduction by doing so. The profit is rapidly going out of slum ownership", Downs explained "the city is enforcing code and legal obligations and as tenants learn more about their rights, some are withholding rents. Some owners can't afford to make the improvements required, and would like to get rid of their buildings" Downs said the procedure would be as follows: CDA would have an accepted building appraised. If a value of $5,000 was set, the owner then could claim a $5,000 tax deduction by making a gift of such value to the agency. The amount allowed would depend upon the building and what might have to be done about it, Downs said. If the building were worthless but the land on which it stands valued at $6,000 and the cost of demolition was set at $3,000, the owner would be eligible for a $3,000 deduction. As another example, Downs cited a building valued at $15,000 on which $5,000 was due in

taxes. The owner in such a cast might receive a $10,000 income tax deduction. Downs predicted that many owners might do much better with the new arrangement than by having their buildings put into receivership and demolished. A similar arrangement has been tried in Philadelphia. A not-for-profit corporation there accepted 66 buildings. Marshall Holleb, legal consultant, and CDA prepared the application to IRS. Sixteen offers have been received since the announcement was made. CONCLUSION New approaches are needed. However, the search for new approaches should not obscure the fact that not enough has been done with some of the present methods and approaches. For instance, the Washington-Hermitage Project is being financed through an FHA 221 d 3 insured mortgage, with a below interest rate of 3 percent, 40 year amortization period. This project is significant in several ways. First, it will make available houses with 2, 3 and 4 bedrooms, along with 1 Vi bathrooms, kitchens, living rooms and basements â&#x20AC;&#x201D; all for $200 down, with monthly payments ranging from $115.00 to $145.00. This is just what a family earning between $6,000 and $11,000 a year can afford to pay. Second, the Foundation for Cooperative Housing will act as the selling agent for CDA and will develop bi-racial home ownership. Also, it will set up the nucleus for creating cooperative home ownership. This will include management and maintenance of the five-acre site and grounds. The maintenance of each of the 107 town houses and community building will be included. We anticipated that many of these families will be overincome, former public housing tenants. It will be important that they be given opportunities for homeownership after the toil of raising their economic status. The families who have had to go back to slum conditions found the experience discouraging and frustrating. Home-ownership offers a new way of life for the lower income families, whether they be Negro, Oriental, Latin American or white. The feeling of pride and independence through home-ownership is mutual to all races and ethnic groups. Stability is another factor that can permeate a predominately lower-income area. We are currently searching for more land in order to build more and more homes similar to WashingtonHermitage. We have faith in the future of home-ownership. We think we are on the right course and will do everything possible to make home ownership available to as many worthy families as is possible. We need the understanding and backing of community and civic leaders such as you in the audience. We also need to have the faith and cooperation of the people we are trying to serve. This can be achieved only through the combined efforts of all of us, working together with one goal in mind â&#x20AC;&#x201D; home-ownership for all!

GEORGE S. HARRIS President, Chicago Metropolitan Mutual Assurance Company For the past 15 years, I have had the opportunity of addressing Negro businessmen in nearly every major city in this country, and in every instance this theme has been the focal point of every talk. Five years ago, I spoke to a group of Negro real estate men under a title almost identical to the one chosen by this symposium. The title of that talk was "Negro Leadership and the Future of the American City." The speech was well received, but it was a banquet talk and I don't believe anyone, probably including myself, recognized the extreme urgency in what was said. But I recall having made several observations that night, some based upon my experience as a life-time resident of an urban community, and other observations stemming from the 1960 report of the United States Bureau of the Census. Permit me to recite a few of those basic conclusions: Judging from population figures, the future of American democracy would be determined by developments in urban society, and the future of urban society would be determined largely by the manner and the speed in which it solved the race question; and from direct observation, I concluded that our great cities would never arrive at effective solutions to the race question until the power structure, the solution makers, both public and private, respect the independent, unfettered, forthright participation and guidance of dedicated and honest Negro leadership. And finally I suggested that the Negro business could or should provide the best source of such an independent, unfettered forthright and honest Negro leadership. I still believe that I was right on most of those points. It is evident that over 70 percent of this nation's population is urban and certainly more than 70 percent of the Negro population is urban, and I need not inform you that the question of adequate Negro leadership continues to pose a real question in the teeming ghettos of our urban centers. But the leadership problem is not so simple as I may have projected it. Before the Negro business community produces its dedicated and truly representative leaders there must be an established Negro business community, one that has earned the respect of the Negroes who live in the areas to be served. And, secondly, we who represent well established business institutions must reopen our lines of direct communication with every strata of the Negro population. In other words, there must be an identity, a genuine identity. That identity must not wait until the shooting starts and the looting and the burnings begin â&#x20AC;&#x201D; when so many of us suddenly become "Soul Brothers." Well, two years ago, in a talk before the Houston Citizens' Chamber of Commerce and the Houston Real Estate Association, two groups of Negro businessmen, I expressed the opinion that there was a big gap in the much heralded Negro Revolt. I attempted to point out that while the civil rights movement has spearheaded great changes in race relations,

it is falling behind in one strategic area â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Negro proprietorship, Negro ownership of manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing and servicing institutions. Now, I did not blame the leaders of the civil rights movement for this gap. I blamed myself and the hundreds upon hundreds of other Negro business leaders who did not insist that the civil rights movement broaden its definition of racial equality. Throughout this land we were developing a posture that construed economic equality to mean simply fair employment in a white-owned business. Full equality should mean the power to hire, not just to be hired; the right and the power to own the company, not just work for the company. Until that attitude becomes a cogent part of the civil rights struggle, the self-image of the American Negro will be incomplete. And, believe me, this question of self-image is important for anybody, regardless of color, race or historical period. Bear with me for a moment and let's consider this question: Why so much violence, so much destruction, so much defiance of law and order in recent years in the black ghetto, especially during a period of so-called "gigantic progress?" Isn't it a fact that we've had more favorable laws passed, more favorable court decisions, more executive orders, more Negro elected officials, more ecumenical-interracial action on the part of organized religion, more so-called concessions on the part of industry and the private sector generally? But isn't it a fact that discontent within the ghetto is deeper, broader and more evident than ever before? Why? Now I know that there is no single answer to that question. But as one man who has been a Negro for nearly 70 years, and as one who has spent all of those years in a big city, I'm going to offer you one reason. Never before in my three score years and ten have I seen so many young Negro Americans overwhelmed by the absence of hope. Please do not misinterpret me; I do not ignore massive poverty, slum housing, overcrowding, poor schooling, job discrimination and the myriad of other bitter fruits of racial segregation; I will even go so far as to attribute the absence of hope to all that. But we simply can't stop there. We must understand that all of those evils just mentioned affect the human spirit differently under different circumstances. There is a qualitative difference in being segregated, poor, ill-housed, and poorly educated in a big city in the year 1927 and in the year 1967. You see, in 1927, despite overwhelming odds, including job bias, poverty and bad housing, the overall climate in the little black urban ghettos was such that a black boy and a black girl could dream of making a better world for themselves. And they could see tangible evidences, real life examples, in the personal success stories and achievements of people that they knew. And what they didn't have, they thought they could win some day.

I venture to say that when I was a teenager there was not a single successful Negro, even a near-do-well by today's standards, in the City of Chicago who was not known in the majority of Negro households. Now I know that the upper strata of Negro professionals often engaged in makebelieve social distinctions, especially when they had their parties and dances; but in critical situations, they remained visible and available to the Negro masses. And I can think of many who again by today's standards could not be called Uncle Toms. Moreover, the lines of communications between all levels of the Negro population remained intact, both by implication and in fact. The children of the poor and uneducated stood or sat side by side with the children of the more fortunate, and together we listened to the inspiring oratory of some of the nation's greatest Negro thinkers and leaders. And it seems to me that not a speech could be heard that did not stress the need for Negro-owned and operated businesses. I know that to be true, because I and many other youngsters from my own underprivileged ghetto were there. I do not hesitate to admit that were it not for the direct, and I stress direct, encouragement that I received from some of the more successful men of my childhood, I wouldn't be standing here today as the president of a laudable and distinguished association of Negro insurance men. I was not alone. Multiply me by several thousands. But things have changed now, and it's really not too hard to understand why. We must remember that in 1910 when I was a teenager, the Negro population of Chicago was only 44,000. In 1920, it was only 109,000. Communication and direct experience was not as difficult as it is today. The current Negro population of Chicago is now estimated at past one million. Not only have we had a population explosion, we've had a marked increase in racial segregation. Now add to that the fact that the disadvantaged Negro is not only left out of the white world, he is residentially excluded from the middle-class black world. Inspiration by direct example is a rare commodity. Rarely does a Negro youngster in a slum neighborhood see a Negro operating anything. Many don't see him at home, and when they go into the streets, even in their own neighborhoods, it's the white man who is controlling everything. More than likely, he owns the corner chain drugstore, the hardware store, most of the big supermarts, the five and ten cent store, the community department store, the biggest cut-rate liquor stores; in many cases the school principal is neither a Negro man or woman; the landlord, and most of the policemen, are white; when the government decides to tear down his slum neighborhood, the wrecking crew has a white boss, and when the new buildings go up, most of the construction men are white. The same fact applies when he seeks credit, it is the same face that establishes the interest rate and the mode of payment.

When he goes to the settlement house, or enrolls in a VISTA program, or attends an after-school special tutoring program, most of the volunteer workers may be white college students. There is little wonder that our ghettos are smothered in a smog of powerlessness. Little wonder that so-called responsible or moderate Negro leaders have practically no influence during periods of strife. The young black masses don't see us controlling anything. It's quite natural that they suspect our leadership. They simply don't believe that we can speak or act in their behalf. They think that behind the scenes we too have White Bosses . . . Doesn't everyone? Everyone they see? The purpose of these remarks is not to re-live the good old days. The time both at this symposum and in real life is much too short. I have talked the way I have because I believe that we can get bogged down in statistics and other pragmatic facts at the expense of a good perspective. And I intend to try to convince you that the need for Negro entrepreneurship, on a wide permanent scale, is a spiritual necessity. I have no illusions as to this being the salvation of the Negro. But assuredly it is one of the main thoroughfares to black pride and self-respect. And if you've watched the new hairdos and the African-styled garments, it becomes clearer that we have a generation that yearns for a sense of dignity and self-esteem. What we as businessmen must do is help take down the psychological "No Exit" signs and help re-open the dead-in streets that remain piled high with empty achievements and disillusionment and the absence of hope. It is not difficult to understand our plight. Maybe we businessmen have been victims of misplaced values, and maybe it was quite natural that the impetus for Negro proprietorship got lost in the civil rights struggle. After all, the Negro businessman should not be given the major responsibility of providing jobs for Negroes. However, we do have the moral responsibility as Negroes to revive what was once a most potent desire in the Negro's struggle for unconditional human dignity. And, that was not just a rhetorical statement; it is an historical fact that the black man's desire for, and experience in business, date back to the very beginnings of this great nation. The effective date of the Constitution of the United States was March 4, 1789, and I want you to know that a group of Negroes led by Richard Allen and Absalom Jones organized the Free African Society, a benevolent, mutual aid, relief association, that same month in that same year. Make no mistake about it, that was an insurance organization. Each member paid monthly dues of one silver shilling, and after one-year's membership, a member could receive relief payment of three shillings and nine pence weekly. We're talking about 180 years ago, just 13 years after the Declaration of Independence. That same year, similar societies sprang up

in Newport, Rhode Island, and in Boston. In 1790 even the slaves began to meet secretly to form elementary insurance groups. In Charleston, South Carolina, three mutual aid societies were established and continued operation for 40 years. Elsewhere in the North, there were over 100 benevolent societies in operation between 1810 and 1838. Most of these societies required 25 cent monthly assessments from their members. In 1849, nearly 5,000 Negroes in Philadelphia, close to half of that city's Negro population, were members of Negro-owned and operated mutual benefit societies. During that same period benevolent societies flourished in Washington, D. C , and in the year 1850, Baltimore could boast of 40 such associations. One of the most remarkable groups organized prior to the Civil War was the True Band Society, organized by Negro conductors of the Underground Railroad near the Canadian border. As most of you students of Negro history know, Canada was the main terminal point for the Underground Railroad. Now during the late 1850's, this True Band Society had established an association in Maiden, Canada, that boasted 600 members, and before the end of that decade there were 14 units throughout West Canada. The main purpose of these embryo insurance groups were to help the sick and to provide decent burials. Now, I have recited these abstracts from history because 1 am sick and tired of hearing people say that Negroes never did anything for themselves; that we never stuck together; that we never showed enough interest in business. The truth is that we've been struggling together from the earliest moments of our existence, but somehow the truth about our historic struggles are not mentioned in the public school textbooks. But the facts are here. Unfortunately, if you want them you have to go to the archives and dig for them. Up to this point, I have mentioned only the early benevolent societies, which may cause doubt in some minds as to their classification as insurance companies. Right now I want you to know that also in the City of Philadelphia, 157 years ago, a group of Negroes did get together and organized what was beyond all doubt a genuine underwriting enterprise known as the African Insurance Company. It opened with a capital of $5,000 on Lombard Street. Fortunately, some of those original policies are today in the possession of the descendants of some of those early policyholders. However, I am even more fascinated by one fact of that first mutual aid association started in 1789 by Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, the Free African Society. I think those gentlemen set a good example for me and the rest of us businessmen assembled here today. That benevolent society did more than offer relief and sick benefits, it was a forum through which the Negro leadership of that time discussed and worked out plans concerning the many other urgent conditions facing their black brothers and sisters. Those early

business-religious leaders saw themselves as a significant part of the total plight of the Negro. Now that was not intended to mean that the distinguished gentlemen assembled here today have deserted the Negro masses; it simply is recommended that we re-integrate ourselves with ourselves. I recognize fully that the civil rights movement, with the support of many of the men in this room, has wrought great change, inestimable change. We've witnessed enough epoch making events over the past 15 years to provide a life's work for a hundred historians. But to large segments of the Negro population these advances have little tangible day-today relationship to their lives. At the same time, we who have been rather fortunate and privileged should ask ourselves another question: Do our advances appear dramatic only when viewed in isolation and when measured in context of an era long past? Have we assessed our achievements by the measuring rod of past expectations? If so, we have engaged in self-delusion. Our progress, our true progress, must be reviewed in the light of new capacities, our new expectations, our new opportunities, our new goals and, above all, in the light of the new demands of this challenging new age. If we examine our achievements within that perspective, I think we will agree that the quest for the establishment of Negro business institutions have not kept pace with either our population or our total achievements, or the demands of the times. Call this pessimism, if you will. I choose to call it a long overdue honesty. Some of us may decline to admit it, but we who are old enough to date our childhood back to the period immediately following the turn of the century, even though I was rather young, we can recall with great vividness the business fervor among Negroes of that period. I speak now of the period from the turn of the century through the middle 1930's. Let me cite one example â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the Negro-owned banks. According to the National Bankers Association in 1960, there were 12 Negro-owned banks in the United States and of this number only three had started after 1934; one third of all Negro banks were opened during the four-year period between 1904 and 1908, and six were launched between 1919 and 1934; three more were added in 1947 and 1948, but after that a fourteen-year drought of initiative seems to have set in. Despite the increase in population and the rise in the income of the American Negro not a single Negro-operated bank was granted a charter until the Riverside National Bank of Houston. Texas, was formed in I 962. Again I will concede that following the middle 1930's, Negroes did begin to channel much of their interest into the savings and loan field. But the Negro-sponsored savings and loan business, much like our sponsorship of banks, still is

lacking when measured by the yardsticks of new population and. above all, the renewed quest of the Negro for full equality and human dignity. Our company, Chicago Metropolitan Mutual Assurance Company, celebrated its 40th Anniversary during an impressive open house party for the public. I simply couldn't escape the thought that in 1927 a group of poor, largely uneducated Negro migrants from the South started our company on a shoestring. Today we have over 21 million dollars in assets and over 165 million dollars of insurance in force. We have over 500 employees with an annual payroll of $2.5 million. That's not a world record, but it's a noteworthy achievement. Our company's first president, Robert A. Cole, came from a cotton plantation in Tipton County, Tennessee, with less than a 5th grade education. But he and his partners had hope, they had dreams, and they sensed their mission. They made it possible for people like me. I also recall another event that I must pass on to you. It was in 1930, a cold February night of my mother's wake. I recall Mr. Robert S. Abbott visiting our old home in the far southside of Chicago, a little underprivileged community called Lilydale. I recall the throng of young people who hovered in front of our home to speak to Mr. Abbott; and I remember that far-away look in their eyes as he spoke to them, and entered his Rolls Royce. He was a symbol of business success and forthright Negro leadership. To the Negroes of Chicago and the deep South, he was one of OUR people, who never forgot HIS people, regardless of their status. His very presence in our neighborhood that night enhanced our self-image. He made all of us want to continue the struggle to be "somebody." And I'm here to tell you that most of those youngsters did become "somebody." They didn't necessarily become big names, but they grew into well-developed human beings. I am fully aware of changing times. I know it is near impossible for a group of uneducated men to do what they once did. This is not 1927 or 1930. But we here must devote some of our thoughts to the task of communicating within the Negro race. We cannot permit despair and defeatism and self-annihilation become a permanent fact of life in the ghettos of our big cities. There must be a well-planned, well-financed, full-scale, sustained program of promotion of Negro proprietorship within the Negro ghetto. It must be directed by established Negro business institutions that sincerely want to help. This is not the only answer. But I repeat, it could become a powerful answer. Furthermore, I do not want my grandchildren growing up in a society, however integrated it may be socially, if it is not integrated in the economic sphere. The struggle for human dignity must be comprehensive and it must be complete.

Frat

Humor By O. WILSON WINTERS I'm looking at Sammy Davis, Jr., guest hosting the Tonight Show on TV. He has brought in a funny sketch based on the game called monopoly. It is a game played with a panel board with dials and spinning arrows, directions, rewards and penalties. This game is called "Cullud." The spin of the dial or the exposure of a directive card can produce ludricrous suggestions and situations. Spin the dial; get Freedom hair cut. Throw the dice; the card tells you to hit the Numbers for $5.00 and move ten blocks out of the Ghetto. Spin again, you are directed to make application to join the Ku Klux Klan. Spin again, the Klan accepts you but issues you a black sheet. Spin again, you lose everything. Move back into the Ghetto, expelled from the Klan, rebuffed by CORE, SNNC and NAACP. One comedian was telling about the government failure to inhibit the wholesale use of cigarettes after the Department of Health declared them dangerous and unhealthy. He said the warning only produced a greater use. He suggested that a statement showing the continued use of tobacco would make one black, would have caused millions to stop smoking. He professed pride in his native blackness. He said it was very useful because when he was a kid he could steal coal without being seen. A wife often scolded her husband for being reluctant to help their small son with his homework. "Help him now while you can," she argued, "next year, he goes into the fourth grade." * * * Quick Reasoning The Army nurses were being shown around the base camp just as the call for dinner was sounded. The commandant asked: "Would you girls rather mess with the enlisted men or the officers?" One little blond said: "It don't make any difference to me, but first I'd rather have a cigarette." * * * Harold was saying his evening prayers and his father heard them end with, "God bless Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, and goodbye Grandpa." The next day the grandfather died. A few weeks later the boy's prayer ended with, "and goodbye Grandma." Sure enough the next day the grandmother died. On the night the boy's prayer ended with goodbye Daddy.

"the father was careful and apprehensive all next day. He came home and learned from his wife that the milkman had fallen dead there. * * * Caldwell reasons that at a party while candy is dandy; liquor is quicker. * * * Syllogistic A dumb broad is a dope A dope is a drug Doctors usually give drugs to relieve pain A dumb broad is a pain in the neck Therefore a dumb girl is just what the doctor ordered. * * * Bridge Club Chatter Mrs. Finestein: "I hear you have a fine new maid. What's her name?" Mrs. Oelrich: "Her name is Beulah but we have learned to call her Bureau. Mrs. F.\ "How odd, why Bureau?" Mrs. O.: "She is five feet tall, 3 feet wide, black as ebony, and has wide drawers." * * * The Sunday school teacher asked the class if they wanted to go to heaven. All said yes except Harold. Teacher: "Don't you want to go to heaven?" Harold: "No," he said firmly. Teacher: "But you must want to go to heaven when you die." Harold: "Oh sure, when I die," he agreed. "I thought you were getting up a group to go now." * * * A very fat lady was carrying a duck. A bystander said: "What're you doing with that pig?" The fat lady snorted, "That's not a pig, it's a duck." The bystander said: "I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to the duck." * # * Doctor: "You should take a hot bath before retiring." Patient: "But, Doc. I won't be retiring for another fifteen years." * * * Yield not to temptation! — A preacher dreamed of the number 5. He went to the race track and played the 5th horse in the 5th race •— yep! the horse came in — fifth. Garvin Gems The C.T.S. bus advertising card read: "Don't be like me, I were a school drop-out." Underneath a wag had scribbled: "Not me, I goed on to college." * * * Alice: "I've been asked to marry many times. Boyfriend: "Who asked you?" Alice: "Mama and papa."

Chapter Officers — Election

ALPHA WORKSHOP Laurence T. Young,

General

Secretary

1968 Election Ballots for the election of General President of the Fraternity were mailed April 1. Exercise your right of franchise by voting and mailing your ballot immediately. The candidates are: Bros. Elmer C. Collins, Frank J. Ellis, LeRoy Patrick and Ernest Morial.

Addresses — Mailing The General Office continues to be plagued by the failure of chapter secretaries to furnish complete mailing addresses of Brothers. Over 450 issues of the December Sphinx were returned due to improper addresses. Our only source for an address is from chapter secretaries — sending in remittances. Merely the name of the particular university is not sufficient. and will not be handled by the post office. A street number or a dormitory name is required.

The Pan-Hellenic Council The 40th Annual Convention of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, Inc., concluded its final business session March 9, at the Statler-Hilton Hotel in Dallas, Tex. Mrs. Carey B. Preston, administrative secretary, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, was re-elected chairman. Other officers are as follows: 1st Vice Chairman

Mildred B. Bradham

Zeta Phi Beta

2nd Vice Chairman

Quincy Hobbs

Omega Psi Phi

Secretary

Lillian Benbow

Delta Sigma Theta

Treasurer

Earl A. Morris

Kappa Alpha Psi

College Presidents Inaugurated We continually increase our number of college Presidents and are happy to announce the recent inauguration of the following: Bro Albert H. Whiting

North Carolina College

Bro. Granville M. Sawyer

Texas Southern University

Bro. Hugh M. Gloster

Morehouse College

Bro. Isaac H. Miller, Jr.

Bennett College

Bro. James E. Cheek

Shaw University

Bro. Robert L. Owens, III

Knoxville College

Bro. Harold N. Stinson

Stillman College

Bro. John Middleton

Morris Brown College

Your attention is called to Article IV, Section 5 stipulation strict adherence is required:

to which

5.1 Each undergraduate chapter shall hold its annual election at the first regular meeting in April, and the successful candidates shall take office at the first regular meeting, the following September. 5.2 Each graduate chapter shall hold its annual election at the first regular meeting in May, and the successful candidates shall take office at the first regular meeting, the following September. 5.3 Chapter officers shall serve for a term of one year or until their successors are elected and qualified. 5.4 The names and addresses of the officers elected shall be submitted to the office of the Excutive Secretary within ten days after election.

Life Membership Many questions are paried relative to Life Membership in the Fraternity. The Constitution makes it very clear: Article XI, Section 6.1, the requirements and the By-Laws stipulate other matters pertaining thereto viz: the cost of a Life Membership is $200; partial payments may be made with the proviso that completion of payment must be made within the Fraternity's fiscal (1) year. Current grand tax payment ($15) may be used as a credit on such payment.

Alpha House of St. Louis Ground-breaking ceremonies are in the offing as it relates to the Alpha House of St. Louis development which will contain 145 units, plus stores and office space.

Congratulations We congratulate Bro. Lewis A. H. Caldwell who was installed as executive director of the Cosmopolitan Chamber of Commerce, succeeding Bro. A. L. Foster (retired), who incidentally has been an active member of the Fraternity since 1912. "Thanks a million for the certificate 1912-1968 — 56 years and still kicking — not bad, eh?." says Bro. Foster. Bro. Anselm loseph Finch has released a beautiful, well metered piece of poetry entitled Guide and Light (Alpha Epsilon Lambda chapter, Jackson, Miss.), which extolls the many virtues of Alpha Phi Alpha.

Special Note Additional copies of the new Constitution and By-Laws may be purchased through the General Office for fifty (50) cents.

DETROIT'68 very elegant formal banquet and dance which was held at the Sheraton Cadillac Hotel. Buddy Morrow's Orchestra, then in its heyday, furnished music for the closed dance. This coming August the local convention committee under the leadership of Bros. William Ezell, president, and John Hurse, chairman, expects to break all records. Arrangements have been completed for hosting the convention at the

The 1968 Convention in the Motor City is upper-most in the minds and thoughts of (I. to r.): Mrs. Leven Weiss, Mrs. Marshall Hill, chairman of the Ladies' Activities' Planning Committee; Brother Leven Weiss, national treasurer and liaison to the Ladies' Committee; and Mrs. Nathaniel Holloway.

Gamma Lambda Welcomes Alpha. Gamma Lambda has hosted the National Convention twice since its establishment in 1919. It first welcomed the national oranization in 1925. Thirty-six chapters participated in this convention. Among the social highlights of the meeting was the prom at the Graystone Ballroom and formal banquet at the then St. Antoine branch of the Y.M.C.A. The General President of Alpha Phi Alpha during this convention was Bro. Raymond W. Cannon. Bro. Percival Piper of Gamma Lambda was General Treasurer. Brother Piper is still one of our active and staunch supporters. In 1953 Gamma Lambda, along with Alpha Upsilon chapter of Wayne State University co-hosted the thirty-ninth An-

nual Convention of Alpha Phi Alpha, December 27-31, 1953. Bro. A. Maceo Smith was General President. Bro. Ramon Scruggs was president of Gamma Lambda and Bros. Junius Taylor and Walter Harmon served as convention cochairmen, and Bro. Jerry Blocker was president of Alpha Upsilon chapter. The 1953 convention broke many racial barriers in Detroit at that time. The closed banquet was held in the Sheraton Cadillac Hotel, a then first for Negroes. Chrysler Corporation for the first time provided free transportations for convention officials of a predominant Negro organization. The convention also set a new standard for Alpha. Those who attended the 1953 convention will long remember the

General President Lionel Newsom poses with Mrs. Anna Gross, well-known Housemother of Gamma Lambda chapter. Mother Gross has been the Chapter's first and only Housemother. She is looking forward to greeting many of the Alpha Brothers from across the nation who met her in 1953 at the last general convention held in Detroit.

Statler Hotel. Many thanks are due to Bro. Kermit Hall, chairman of the National Convention Committee, for his expertise and cooperation. Local brothers who hold chairmanship of various subcommittees within the local convention committee are Lee James and Noah Turner, secretaries; Gust Ogletree, treasurer; Leven Weiss, coordinator with the Lady's Auxiliary; Eldon Martin, Golf; Harvey Proctor, Budget; Tim Heard, undergraduate activity; Rev. Richard Brown and Waldo Smith, public program; Jack Maddox, Ike Graves and Charles Wells entertainment; Robert Hawkins, souvenirs; Norman Morris, registration, and Jesse Goodwin, Publicity. During the past years, Gamma Lambda men have engaged in a whirlwind of

affair in cooperation with teenagers. Gamma Lambda chapter was officially represented at the reception for Bro. Edward W. Brooke, America's first post "Reconstruction Era" Negro Senator. Gamma Lambda accepted one Brother into Alpha the past year. At present six applications are pending for admission into Sphinx club. The 1967 Founder's Day banquet was attended by 201 Brothers. Bro. John B. Erwin of Epsilon Lambda Chapter, St. Louis. Mo., was the Founder's Day speaker. Sixteen 25-year service certificates were awarded to Gamma Lambda men at the banquet. Bro. Lee James was presented with a life membership certificate. Bro. Jesse F. Goodwin was given recognition for being chosen Alpha man of the year

Undergraduate Brothers of Alpha Upsilon, Detroit, Mich., take time out from pre1968 Convention meetings to pose for THE SPHINX. Pictured (I. to r.) row 1: Vaughn McNeil, treasurer; Dennis William, vice president; Audley M. Smith, president; Timothy Heard. Row 2: Joseph Smith, Ronnie White, Donald Robinson, Wesley Stelle, Priches Bandy, Gregory Williams, R. C. Campbell. Row 3: Craig Pollard, Ronald Cheek, Dejaun Taylor, Stoney Robinson, Joseph Hyche, Jerryl Gorman.

activities in building chapter strength and interest for the 1968 convention. As a result of this effort, the chapter received the Outstanding Graduate Chapter Award at the Los Angeles Convention. A summary of activities for the past year includes a Valentine Day party, which was given for the teenage children of Alpha men. Bros. Robert Hawkins. John Hurse, Nathaniel Holloway and Alpha wives planned and hosted this

in the Midwestern Region. Bro. John Hurse was honored for his induction into the Midwest Region Hall of Fame. A public forum reviewing the Moynihan report on "The Negro Family" was conducted by the chapter in early 1967. A public forum entitled "Know Your Candidate" was conducted for Alpha men who were candidates for state and city office. A workshop for senior high school

students was conducted at the Alpha House in June of 1967. Bro. Waldo Smith served as chairman of this project. Representatives from industry, government and educatilon participated in the workshop which hosted seniors from several Detroit area high schools. In conjunction with several other Greek letter organizations, Gamma Lambda cohosted the Sigma Gamma Rho National Meeting which was held in August, 1967. On September 17. 1967, music lovers of Metropolitan Detroit were offered a unique and stimulating experience when Gamma Lambda sponsored Bro. Duke Ellington and his concert of Sacred Music at the Ford Auditorium. The occasion was the midwestern premier of one of Ellingon's most heralded musical contributions. Accompanying the concert was the Harold Smith Majestic's Choir of Detroit. Proceeds from the concert is being used to pursue the educational programs of the chapter. During October. 1967 Bro. William Alexander director of the Alpha Phi Alpha National Housing Foundation visited Gamma Lambda to confer with chapter and local officials on the possibility of sponsoring a government financed housing effort in the City of Detroit. This matter is still pending. Gamma Lambda's Youth Leadership Program (reported elsewhere in this issue) was funded by the chapter to carry out various projects. The 1968 Founder's Day Banquet was attended by 250 Brothers. Eight 25 year awards were given to members of Gamma Lambda Chapter. A panel on race relations was chaired by U.S. Federal Judge Bro. Damon Keith. Members of the panel included Bro. Remus Robinson, a member of the Detroit Board of Education, Robert Tindal. executive director of the Detroit Branch of NAACP and Ray Hatcher of the United Community Services. Bro. William Ezell. president gave the annual review of activities. Socially Gamma Lambda (noted for its pace setting affairs) held its annual Spring and Christmas formals in the grand manner typical of Alpha. We hope that you will enjoy these thrills with us, come August.

National Convention Committee Chairman, Kermit Hall, takes time out to meet with (I. to r.): Mrs. Charles L Wells, Mrs. Jesse F. Goodwin, and Mrs. William Ezell. They are members of the Ladies' Activities' Planning Committee.

Undergraduates Ready for Convention Michigan's undergraduate chapters are working hard to make this convention a huge success. Tim Heard is the chairman for undergraduate activities, and activities galore have been planned to make undergraduate participation the highlight of the convention. Those brothers who have read the advance notices on the convention, realize that great emphasis has been placed on pre-convention activities. Host chapters plan to kick this convention off with an "out-of-sight" reception from 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. on Saturday, August 3. AKA's, Deltas, Zeta's Sigma Gamma Rho's or GDI's you name them, will be on hand at this reception. This affair will be followed by an informal affair at Brother McNeil's estate in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. On Sunday, August 4, the convention will swing into high gear with a public program at 4:00 P.M. This program will feature an outstanding speaker and a discussion of items of interest for all brothers. Following this affair will be another reception. This one will be held after the public program in the Grand Ballroom of the Statler Hotel with beautiful young ladies in attendance. The above activities outline the preconvention activities as they relate to undergraduates. As indicated, things will be really moving by the time the conven-

tion is called to order. For this reason, the undergraduate brothers of Michigan urge all undergraduate brothers to arrive early in Detroit to partake of these preconvention activities. By the time Tuesday arrives all undergraduates should have experienced so much interaction, that they'll feel like they were all made at the same chapter. Indicative of this new shift in undergraduate emphasis, is the fact that the first official function will be conducted by the undergraduates. This will be the Undergraduate Luncheon on Monday, August 5, at 11:30 A.M. The first part of the luncheon will be a competitive song fest. The winner of the Undergraduate Song Fest will be presented to the Pan-Hellenic affair on Monday night, as an example of the fine voices of Alpha Phi Alpha. After the luncheon, the first business session will be held. At 6:00 P.M. Monday, it will be party time again with the Bait-a-Date Wine Sip. This affair will be held in the Grand Ballroom of the Statler Hilton Hotel. Afterwards, the Pan Hellenic Council will provide entertainment, to finish off the evening. Tuesday evening, August 6, Gamma Lambda and Alpha Upsilon will host the first formal ball in Detroit's Civic Center, the largest arena in the country. You have probably heard of Jimmy Wilkins'

Orchestra, the group which will provide the music for the evening. Wilkins' group has just finished a special tour with the Supremes. It stands to reason that if they were able to back up Diane and the Supremes, they should not have any trouble playing the soulful music we undergraduates dig. On Wednesday morning, August 7, will be the Undergraduate Breakfast. The undergrads have gone into some detail to arrange this breakfast and we request that every registered undergraduate be present. The undergraduate breakfast in St. Louis was quite instrumental in elevating the spirit of the Brothers. This breakfast should give the undergraduates an excellent opportunity to meet other Brothers and caucus for support of the officers of our choice. At 1:30 P.M. Wednesday, August 7, Brother James Glover will preside over the undergraduate seminar. Undergraduates will have an opportunity to question panelists on all facets of undergraduate life at this panel. The second formal ball will commence at 8:00 P.M. August 7, in the Hilton Rooms of the Statler Hotel. No Brother will be allowed into any closed activity without his registration badge. Brothers are urged to start now and get straight for '68. Thursday, August 8, at 7:30 P.M. the Alpha Formal Banquet will be held. An added attraction will be the after Dinner Dance. This will be our last fling before swinging out. Two other activities should be mentioned. One is the Michigan Undergraduate Hospitality Suite. This suite will be set aside to accommodate the undergraduates and their friends. The other item is the Alpha souvenir shop. It was felt that not enough Alpha souvenirs and other items have been available to Brothers attending conventions. In view of this, undergraduates have arranged to sell everything you can imagine from A 0 A hats to cocktail glasses. All in all, this convention will be the best yet. Get your money together, business straight and head for Detroit in '68. Detroit is really going to be beautiful â&#x20AC;&#x201D; baby! â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Brother Tim Heard

Alpha* in'Action The College Cost Barrier hits American colleges in Americe. For most families, cost determines whether their child goes on to college and to which one. And yet the costs climb every year - over $1,500 a year in a public college and $2,500 in private colleges. But with the growing federal comrvV* mitment to higher education, some financial aid may be available in the form * V of grants, scholarships and low-interest loans. Also, American colleges J* are in trouble^ Never have there been so many reasons for them to expand, (ft" nor so many pressures on their ailing budgets. "We're fighting for our * lives," says Franklin Kreml, vice president of Northwestern University. There is a good side to this, of course. An American Negro has better than twice as good a chance of entering college than the typical European does. Newest Alpha undergraduate chapter is in Norman, Oklahoma, Zeta Zeta at University of Oklahoma...Former Hampton Institute Dean of Faculty, Dr. Hugh M. Gloster. has been inaugurated seventh president of Atlanta's Morehouse College...Alpha Eta Lambda's Alpha Round-Up brought together 65 brothers and their wives. Probates of Alpha Eta Lambda - Leroy Carter, Ivory Jones, and Gary Abernathy - designed a photographic poster depicting Alphas-in-action. Bros. Asberry Butler, Vivian Chagois, and James Race were honored for their civic and fraternal services. And for top scholastic standing for Greek-letter organizations on the Texas Southern University campus, undergraduate chapter, Delta Theta received a three-foot trophy. National Baptist Convention re-elected Bro. Professor William H. Pryor executive secretary of the National Baptist Laymen. Bro. Pryor is a member of Gamma Chi Lambda.. .Alphas of Zeta Lambda and Delta Beta Lambda as well as over 450 guests spent "A Night In Greekdom" - highlight of the Newport NewsHampton area social season. Result: several brothers have been reclaimed. Alpha Life member, Otha N. Brown. Jr. , has been re-elected to a third term on the Norwalk (Connecticut) Common Council. An active member of many civic groups and fraternal associations, Bro. Brown was chosen Norwalk's Man of the Year by the Jaycees and later was honored as one of Connecticut's three Outstanding Young Men by the State Junior Chamber of Commerce last year.

He is the only Negro on the 17-member Council and the only member of his race with an elective office in Norwalk. Theta Rho Lambda set the pace for "social action" as well as for "social activity" at the third annual Black and Gold Banquet and Ball. President Henry G. Gillem, Sr., served as toastmaster, and noting that "Alpha men perform with a purpose," introduced the theme of the evening as, "Higher Education for a Prosperous Community." Seven newly initiated brothers were presented with certificates by Alpha's Eastern Regional Vice President, ty Frank J. Ellis. The Banquet address delivered by Bro. Dr. Charles H. Wesley, retired President of Wilberforce University and Central State ^ ii-j. ^ University, who is presently Director of the Association for the Study of It. Negro Life and History, in Washington, D.C. Bro. William Thomas Syphax, A of Theta Rho Lambda, a northern Virginia realtor-builder and community leader, was presented the Alpha Man of Merit Award for his outstanding service to his country, state, community, and Alpha Phi Alpha. The Southwestern region-wide convocation, under the leadership of Bro. James Ervin Glover, went a long way in effectively bringing into focus some efficient methods of solving common problems... Bro. William Pickard, executive secretary of the NAACP Cleveland Branch, was Delta Alpha Lambda's Founder's Day_sp_eaker. Leaders of this forwardmoving chapter are: Bros. Elmer C. Collins, Wayman Smith, Kenneth Norris, Stephen Howard, J. Harold Brown, Joseph R. Malone, Charles Nunn, Robert Rice, Dr. Hatcher Day, and Henry C, Crawford. Alpha's Education Foundation has developed a new theme: "Stay In High School - Go To College." The Foundation feels that Alphas should project themselves as a force and attract more money for education, and circulate scholarship information among junior high school students. Combining "Education For Citizenship" and "Stay In High School..." into short film strips is under consideration by the Foundation. They would emphasize "black pride" rather than "black power." Discussion also is underway to offer "Alpha Outreach" as ÂŤ_firgngral organization program, rather than on an individual basis. Bro. Dr. Irving E. Tompkins, Jr., 38, former Gamma Chi Lambda vice president and San Francisco dentist, died of injuries from a traffic accident, in Bodega Bay, California. He is survived by four sons, his mother, father, stepfather, and a brother. 39

The day Will Clayton told his wife about his day in ASWAGEnavidatamunications. All Alberta did was ask, "Just for a change, why don't you tell me about your day?" Taking a deep breath, Will replied, "In ASWAGEnavidatamunications?" "Whaat?" said Alberta. "It's a word I made up to describe my j o b , " he said. "Remember, one reason we came here was because I

liked the diversity. ASWâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that's antisubmarine warfare. Aerospace ground equipment is the AGE part. Then there's navigation aids, data equipment, and radio communications. And today I was involved with all these labs." There was a pause as Alberta popped a radish into Will's mouth and started to clean some celery. "The moment I walked in the door it started,"said Will, through the radish. "A customer was on the phone to get a reading on our experience in complying to SIMM specification requirements. That's ASW. Next thing I knew I was sitting in on an AGE conference. I suggested putting data on microfilm aperture cards to update our software. I want to see it automated, like the equipment it's used with." Will took another radish and con-

tinued, "Then I sat down with the engineers and training people involved with MicroTACAN. We had to come up with an interim computer report on reliability and ideas for new t r a i n i n g f i l m s . And all this was before lunch!" " B e f o r e dinner, t o o , " murmured Alberta. Chuckling, Will went on. "After that, the afternoon could have been a letdown, but it wasn't. I was called into Communications to help determine software and technical data for production of the 'angry 106'*. "And to cap the day off, the boss came in to praise our cost-cutting on 3 commercial data demo units we just set up for a trade show." Alberta pounced on this one. "If you're so good at cutting costs, how come you let me handle the family budget?" "Aha," said Will, "got you there. You don't have to show a profit." "Touche," said Alberta, peering into the oven. "By the way," said Will, "what's for dinner?" "Salarosbeecakencoffee," replied Alberta with a one-upmanship grin. "Now you're talking my language," said Will. You'll find we talk your language, too, at the Electronics division of General Dynamics, if you're interested in ASW, AGE, navigation aids, data equipment or communications. Design and development positions are available in each of the labs... and there are also a few openings for people with advanced manufacturing ideas. Write to J. P. O'Reilly, Dept. 000, for more details. â&#x20AC;˘AN/GRC-106 Radio Set

GENERAL

DYNAMICS

Electronics Division 1400 N. Goodman Street, Rochester, New York 14601

We are an equal opportunity employer in deed, not only an equal opportunity employer in words.

personnel the programs negro and college By ISAAC BIVENS

The chief concern of primitive man may have been the problem of inertia or the task of getting things moving. In striking contrast the great problem confronting modern man, in my opinion, is getting things to settle down. But in this contrast there is one unmistakable paradox â&#x20AC;&#x201D; for which primitive man sat waiting for something to change, change was taking place in millions of areas. The world waited for him to touch God's creation with human genius. But it was stagnated then by the inertia of ignorance. The universe was in flux and man sat still. Today's society, created by the active will of awakened humanity moves with such ruthless rapidity that it threatens the individual man. At times it appears that as if society is proceeding with endless innovation in direct proportion to

the receding powers of the individual. Every advancement in industry, labor, science, computers, and education seems to indicate a new necessity for the capitulation and surrender of individual decision and individual values. The truth of the matter is that morally and ethically we have become dwarfs while economically, militarily and materially we have become giants. Collectively, we are invincible; individually, we are obsequious urbanized puppets. Many of our college and university students realize this, and it is more likely that our unsettled society has been largely to blame for the growing number of confused and unsettled students. The turmoil at Howard University where students are in revolt against the status quo, at Grambling College where students are objecting to the what and the way they are being taught, and at Central

State College where the Black Power movement has invaded the campus, did not spring up without warning. Our students have substantial gripes. They are dissected, trisected, analyzed, compared, purged, tested, measured. diagnosed. They are taken apart in so many ways, in so many places, by so many people, for so many causes that disintegration is the flow of their psychic energies and egoes. So after our students have climbed over the barriers of poverty, broken homes, disinterested parents, poor elementary and secondary schools, we stand with our tests and measurements of qualities that we do not understand and problems which we cannot appreciate as the final and greatest barrier to their future. It appears to them that we are more interested in keeping them out of our colleges than we are in getting them in.

We all seem to be unable to fulfill our duties in this changing world mainly because we ignore two questions: Who am I? And, to whom or to what do I owe my loyalty? Loyalty is something that must be given by a person, and only a person can fully appreciate it. Too often on our campuses the greatest loyalty and the greatest energies are given and expanded for buildings and grounds. A logical comparison between the philosophical concepts of many presidents of their jobs and the titles on their campuses would suggest that they be called superintendent of buildings and grounds, and discard the title of president. In our day, it is proper for our students to be "in the groove," and to "hear the BEAT." Damn the melody, for it symbolized a core of central thought and responsibility. It is the BEAT — the psychodelic beat of disorganized movements, ambivalent emotions in coalition with half truths, and a breathless vociferous fear that is motivating the great unrest on the American campus. This impulsive rash chorus of frustrated youth is too often met with a valueless program of antiquated fact finding methods — called a curriculum — and a lack of commitment by teachers and educational leaders. So the flood gates have swung open with all of the irrepressible urgency of youth for movement and action and freedom. The storm at Berkeley has created tidal waves on the campuses of high schools and colleges in America that no partial or superficial response can quell. Lacking basic values, we have a resultant proliferation of movements without direction demanding freedom without responsibility. But what hope is there when teachers instruct without commitment about facts opposed to and apart from human value? Somehow we must say convincingly to the youth of the world that authority is no vice nor is anarchy a pure virtue; that obedience is not weakness; and that reckless defiance is not heroic. Freedom is not a moral or social license to chaos; duty is more than a sissy kind of love. It is essential that it is spoken on the college campus and echoed throughout society that all of the guide lines for humanity, justice, and truth have not

been lost. It is important that it be rumored in society and echoed on the campus that not all men have concluded that God is dead or that man has been abandoned — even by himself. There are men who by their convictions are "men for all seasons." There must be men for this season, too. Why the prose? Why a statement of the obvious plight of society? We must not forget any longer what we have failed to accept in the past and present that the educative process takes place within a living, breathing, responding human being—the student. He is more than a disembodied intellect at the educator's "service desk" saying "fill her up." The total college (not merely the academic program) is a part of the students' larger and inclusive social-psychological environment whether it wants to be or not, and our attitudes and values or lack of values do affect students in the formation of their own values. Too often I hear professors imply or say that their duty ends with the efficient disbursement of facts in the classrooms and if these students cannot master them better students should be found. The Negro college has not been fully honest or clear in the articulation of its role with its students in the immediate past and present. On. the one hand, we partly

Mr. Bivens

justify our existence and uniqueness on the basis of the isolation, deprived experience of our students and their consequent need of a professional expertise that we claim to possess. On the other hand, we look at them with disdain, with a condescending paternalism that is so much like the attitudes and ethos of the majority society that we are alienated from them and we have become the object of their hostilities and their first obstacle to subdue or overcome. We have abandoned them on our own campuses and permitted outside antithetical groups to come into the vacuum and literally take over. They have been able to do so for two reasons. First, because the personnel programs which should assist the students to develop a logical pattern of a social modus operandi and provide a link between fact and dream through an acceptable methodology has been and is now being ignored on 90 percent of our campuses. The following areas should claim our attention: 1. Very few college presidents, teachers, deans, accrediting agencies, trustees or foundations take a serious view to student personnel services. There is hardly any unity in the concept of student personnel service that would or could lead to a useful job description. In most institutions student personnel services represent a hodge-podge of illogically related functions not wanted in any other administrative offices. A close examination of the performances of the office of the dean of students would reveal that, in most instances, the multiplicity of functions are just half done. On the other hand, all of the functions and duties are related to the mental, moral, and spiritual development of the student and should be logically and systematically organized. 2. The scope of student personnel programs are too broad and too general. The area of concern is broad, to be sure, but there is a great need for specificity. Generally the dean of students is viewed either as a "lid sitter," a pump primer, a justice of the peace, judge, and chief disciplinarian. He is not viewed as an educator. So, on our campuses we arc flooded with retired teachers, retired captains, sargeants, and colonels. Too

many nice old ladies and tired old men proven useless in the classroom, pulpits, or other places are on the staff of the personnel department and Head Resident Counselors. There is a tragic need to define the essential personal and professional standards for members of the student personnel departments. 3. Another serious concern is the lack of professional involvement of personnel chiefs in the development of a budget for the department. Arbitrarily a price tag is attached by the president and business manager via some implementation that is supposed to be adequate. Thus with an ill conceived budget mentation that is inadequate, we are to secure dedicated and competent aid to "hold the •students down." 4. One of our most serious failures has been the failure to provide the personal, private, professional personnel program where our students can be EXPECTED to come and receive the advice, friendliness, honesty, and sense of direction that youth with their degree of maturity sincerely need. In too many instances the business manager, the dining hall supervisor or just any close friend of the administration, are often more informed of the most personal problems of discipline than those responsible for them. Even more tragic is the fact that these persons are also generally better informed on the administrator's decision before the Dean of Students. Student personnel problems are taken too lightly (unless they are problems of a social nature). Students' confidential records are too readily accessible for far too many people. This is not the case of the budget of the college or the salary scale. These are the records that all members of the college community should have. Let me say parenthetically that we can be assured that the present activistic stage of student unrest will eventually level off. But be assured, too, that it is going to be converted into a more serious constructive concern with deep implications for all of us on the predominantly Negro-college scales, budget control and in the total life of these institutions. I

hope we will be wise enough to include their interest and insights. 5. Our specified services are too limited and inadequate. Our health programs arc inadequate. Records, when kept, are skimpy, inconsistent with facts and sporadic. We do not have nearly the proper clinical bed facilities needed. When we look at student financial aid there seems to be a vested interest of the president's office, the business office, and the dean of students in conflict. The student is frequently caught in a three ring circus. For years, for social reasons, the Negro college has ignored placement and career planning. Today, with the tremendous aid of College Placement Service. many of these colleges are developing placement offices. This is a good sign. Stronger alumni, better community and better industrial relations will follow these developments. Too much cannot be said for the aid given these colleges via College Placement Service in Bethlehem. Pa. The areas of food service, (non academic), guidance and counseling, religious life, social activities and student union building's function need much study. Professional membership in national and regional associations would provide much needed resources for those responsible for these programs locally. 6. Narrow values and unclear objectives are symbolized in antiquated regulations and rules conceived for students in the pre-civil rights era. Few of us would like to live in a society with attitudes and practices of 20 to 90 years ago. Yet we ask this of our students in our handbooks and catalogues. We would have a very difficult task today to attempt a logical and intelligent justification for many of our rules, written and unwritten. that govern our students. They were written for a dormant, quiet period for a socially passive student generation. Secondly, these outside groups have taken over our campuses because they have offered our students status—(actors) and function (revolutionaries). Peter Drucker defines these terms as the essence of personality. He says any society which fails to grant status and function to its citizens should not expect their loyalty. I agree. We have defined status and func-

tion to our students and we do not have their loyalty. Hence, we become "Uncle Toms." I am not urging or suggesting that we lower our standards, rather I am suggesting that we expand our goals to include student "personal" services on a high professional basis. I am suggesting that the dichotomy of the academic interest and personnel interest is a harmful one because neither is complete or competent without the other. I am saying that at last our students are forcing us to face this superficial separation by showing us that theory and psrsonality development are both important to the individual and to society. We have given them the power of facts and we have abandoned them in their quest for a sense of moral and social responsibility in the use of this power. Hence, by default we have aided and abetted them in their directionless and purposeless cry for freedom without duty. This, to me, is the ultimate purpose of all of the student personnel program — to assist the student as a biological, social, and intellectual entity to respond fully, responsibly, creatively, and magnanimously to the practical and moral imperatives that his awakened mind and integrated self have discussed and we hope challenged. Perhaps the words of Walter Lippmann are very apropos to those of us who labor in the arena of higher education today: "We are losing touch with the people of the world — with their fears, their hopes, their needs, their purposes, and their will to survive •— and we are talking not to them but to ourselves in a self-induced mood of defeatism and imputence about how much we must distrust one another and our own better instincts and our own capacity to think and believe." While these words were spoken to our diplomatic core around the world they have significant meaning for us. The same questions that he raised with them in relationship to the underdeveloped nations of the world should be raised by us as we consider our relationship with our students.

We'll teach you to speak a foreign language in thirteen weeks. Free! You name it, we've got it. The biggest selection in town. Urdu and Tagalog and Swahili and Hindi and Quechua and Spanish and French and Portuguese. To list a few. All free for the learning. And when we say learning we don't mean ordinary speak and listen and read learning. No sir. When we teach you a language we teach you to cook in it, teach in it, play basketball in it, build sanitation facilities and farm cooperatives in it. We teach you to climb mountains and span rivers in it, to have patience and understanding in it, to do something important in it, to look at yourself and the world in it. We teach you to make friends and get along with people in it. And we even supply the friends and people. Yes sir. With every foreign language you get, absolutely free, an invitation to spend two years in a matching foreign country. So hurry! Hurry! Don't delay. It's the chance of a lifetime. No catches. No gimmicks. Nothing to pay. You see, it's all part of a promotion for a product we're interested in pushing. Peace. Write:The Peace Corps, Washington, D.C. 20525. / S ^ t Wft

PUBLISHED AS A PUBLIC SERVICE IN COOPERATION WITH THE ADVERTISING COUNCIL

TENTATIVE PROGRAM 62nd A N N I V E R S A R Y

CONVENTION

A L P H A PHI ALPHA F R A T E R N I T Y , INC. Statler-Hilton Hotel Detroit, Michigan August 3-8, 1968 Convention theme: Excellence in Performance excellence in preparation Host Chapters:

9:00 A.M.

12:00 Noon 3:00 P.M. 4:00 P.M. 6:00 P.M. 9:00 A.M.

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4:00 P.M. 8:00 P.M. 9:00 A.M. 10:00 A.M. 11:00 A.M. 11:30 A.M. 12:00 Noon 1:30 P.M. 3:00 P.M. 6:00 P.M. 8:00 P.M.

follows

Gamma Lambda and Alpha Upsilon

Saturday, August 3, 1968 Registration & Information (daily) . . . Ballroom Foyer Executive Secretary & Convention Offices Parlors D & C Board of Directors Luncheon Meeting Ivory Room Rules & Credentials Committee Parlor E Budget & Finance Committee Parlor D Alpha Building Foundation Parlor F Reception (Informal) Bro. McNeil (host) Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Sunday, August 4, 1968 Registration & Information Ballroom Foyer Executive Secretary & Convention Offices Parlors B & C Board of Directors & Committee Chairmen Ivory Room The Golf Tournament (Buses leave hotel 9:30 a.m. local) Tour—Detroit Zoological Park (Women & Children) Alpha Building Foundation (Housing) Parlor F Committee Meetings Public Program Grand Ballroom Reception (Informal) Grand Ballroom Monday, August 5, 1968 Board of Directors' Meeting Ivory Room Committee Meetings Tour & Luncheon—Ford Motor Company (Women) Undergraduate Luncheon— Song Fest Grand Ballroom Tour—Upland Hills Farm (Women & Children) First Business Session Wayne Room 62nd Anniversary Convention Address Seminars: Equal Opportunity and Career Choices Wine Sip (Bait-a-Date) Grand Ballroom Teenage Social "Sock Hop" Michigan Room Pan-Hellenic Entertainment

7:30 A.M. 9:30 A.M.

11:00 A.M. 12:00 Noon 1:30 P.M. 4:40 P.M. 9:00 P.M. 8:00 A.M. 9:30 A.M. 11:00 A.M. 12:00 Noon 1:00 P.M. 1:30 P.M. 3:00 P.M. 8:00 P.M. 9:30 A.M.

1:00 3:00 6:00 7:30 9:30

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Tuesday, August 6, 1968 Life Members' Breakfast Hilton Room Second Business Session Wayne Room Presiding: Bro. Frank J. Ellis, Eastern Vice President Tour—Greenfield Village (Teens & Pre-Teens) Ladies' Luncheon & Fashion Show Statler-Hilton Rooms Third Business Session Wayne Room Presiding: Bro. Luke H. Chatman, Southern Vice President Committee Meetings Dance (Formal) Cobo Hall 1 Washington Blvd. Wednesday, August 7, 1968 Undergraduate Breakfast Ivory Room Fourth Business Session Wayne Room Presiding: Bro. Earnest L. Wallace, Southwestern Vice President Tour—Canada, et al. (Women & Children) Teens' Splash Party Wayne University Ladies' Card Party Grand Ballroom Undergraduate Seminar Wayne Room Polls Open for Voting Fifth Business Session Wayne Room Presiding: Bro. C. P. Johnson, Western Vice President Reception & Closed Dance (Formal) Detroit-Hilton Rooms Thursday, August 8, 1968 Sixth Business Session Wayne Room Presiding: Bro. Gus Ridgel, Midwestern Vice President Committee Reports Installation of Officers Board of Directors Ivory Room Alpha Building Foundation Parlor F Reception (Formal) Grand Ballroom Alpha Formal Banquet Statler-Hilton Rooms After Dinner Dance (Cash-bar) Grand Ballroom

WHAT ALPHA MEANS TO ME By James W. Parker, Sr.

From time immemorial the number "seven" (7) has been considered a lucky number; by some a magic number — especially by the over enthusiastic or superstitious individuals. There well might be good reasons for this impression. From an historical perspective there may be noted several events involving the number "seven" in contextual relationship, which not only directed the destinies of the human race, but also stimulated the imagination, ambitions and accomplishments of mankind. Some of the cases in point, that are well known to most, include: •J The seven days of the week / The seven years in building King Solomon's temple J The seven golden candle sticks J The seven years of famine J The seven basic arts and sciences J The seven years of wandering in the wilderness / The seven hills of Rome / The seven stars in the big dipper J The seven Angels blowing trumpets J The seven Wonders of the World We even have the seven year itch, and the seven Sisters—the name given to the group of distinguished female colleges on the Eastern Seaboard. According to the Bible, seven denotes completeness. Perhaps we could go on and on. Of course some of us — before we became Alpha Men — might have been engaged in a game, played with small cube-shaped objects with dots ranging in number from one to six, where seven becomes very significant. Most practitioners, and even abstainers, call it shooting craps. These ideas often flow through my mind when I think of the origin, development and growth of Alpha Phi Alpha. We must remember that when the idea of our Greek letter fraternity was first

conceived over sixty years ago, there were, comparatively speaking, a small number of Negro men of college rank enrolled in the Northern or major colleges. Whether the number of men (seven) who became the charter members of Alpha Phi Alpha was by design, accident, or destined and ordained by fate alone, to lay out the ground rules for establishing the foundation upon which an effective and lasting organization and prolific movement, perhaps we don't know; however, we do know that we revere the number seven, especially as it relates to our seven founders whom we nostalgically and affectionately refer to as our beloved Jewels. Alpha Phi Alpha has meant much to its members. Moreover, when we recall the lists of accomplishments of the personnel and members of the Fraternity, and others who have been stimulated by them, we have to conclude that we have served well our various Alma Maters, our country and many parts of the world. Every true Alphaman feels that he has a responsibility as a result of the privilege of being a part of the body. I feel, after more than a half-century of observation and experience, together with a close study of the history of our Fraternity, that it is not beyond the pale of possibility for Alpha Phi Alpha to become the Eighth Wonder of the World. (If the Houston Astrodome has beaten us to the 8th as some claim it to be, we will settle for 9th.) Conditions are changing rapidly and radically; who would have thought, 20 years ago, that we would have an Alpha Brother elected to the U. S. Senate? Or a Negro (another Brother) in the Georgia Legislature? Or a sheriff in Alabama? What about an integrated major league football team in Texas, Virginia, Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana? In fact, Alabama and even Mississippi and other states will soon feel left out, begging to get in. This is meaningful to me. I left Asbury Park (N. J.), and the boardwalk, sixty three years ago to enter college. I played baseball on a "ham team" a few blocks from Asbury—not so much for exercise, but more to amuse the summer guests.

I was a waiter in a second-rate hotel. I could not get a job in the type of hotels we meet in today. One often hears many opinions and hopes relating to our Fraternity; but not many perhaps have projected an image into such lofty heights of phantasy. If Brothers consider me a dreamer, please don't awaken me; allow me to continue with the hope that my dreams will some day come true. I have no crystal ball technique nor any claim as a soothsayer, prognosticator or oracle; but as a calculated optimist, I do have eternal hope in the future. I am happy to be numbered among those who set up the first Fraternity house in 1911 at Beta. There were seventeen of us who banded together, pooled our meager resources and took a chance on letting our lot fall where it might. It became our home — the only one some of us knew. To us it was our shrine. There we formed a never-to-be- forgotten relationship that has extended through the years, even until now.

It was in that atmosphere that we tried to make a realistic appraisal of our deficiencies, to strive for betterment in cultural and general education improvement, and to realize that learning is a continual process throughout a lifetime. We also learned didactically to realize that today is only an extension of yesterday, and the inevitable forerunner of tomorrow. We were our own mutual guidance counsellors; for, what were considered academic luxuries then, are routine now-a-days. Hence, due to the generous and helpful influence of the Fraternity, I have been benefitted and am genuinely grateful.

OK, so you're black*

We'd like to address you as a man* We're talking man to man. No need to walk on eggs. Or be effusive. Or paternal. We simply want to say, quite directly and unequivocally, that there are opportunities here for people with ability and ambition. Good opportunities. Equal opportunities.

Interested? Just fill out the coupon, attach a resume, if you have one, and mail to the location of your choice. Mr. T. A. Petroze, Room 896 Aircralt Engine Group General Electric Co. Bldg. 800, C-15 Cincinnati. Ohio 45215

The Aircraft Engine Group of General Electric is looking for qualified people in engineering, manufacturing, quality control, business systems and programming, finance operations and personnel. Many other areas, too.

Address.Home P h o n e .

If you join us, you'll be helping to develop new jetengines like the ones we're building for the huge new Air Force Transport, the Supersonic Transport, the commercial and military helicopters and business jets.

It's the talent we care about. And the man.

Name_

We invite you, we urge you to consider our company in planning your career.

You'll be helping to develop your own future, too. Our in-house education programs can broaden the scope of your skills, prepare you for greater responsibilities. Our policy of continually reevaluating people can offer recognition and reward for your talent.

Mr. Warren Green. Room 500 Aircraft Engine Group General Electric Co. 1000 Western Ave.. Bldg. 145 West Lynn, Mass. 01905

_ School -

Degree . Years E x p e r i e n c e .

. Field of W o r k .

My field ol interest at G E .

Availability Date:

.Citizen: Y e s D N o D

G E N E R A L ^ ELECTRIC An Equal Opportunity Employer (m/f)

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