The SPHINX | Fall 1970 | Volume 56 | Number 3 197005603

OCTOBER 1970 Vol. 56, No. 3

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

HON.

JAMES H. McGEE

ALPHAS GIFT TO DAYTON

READ INSIDE...

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Paul Robeson a t Rutgers U

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1 9 7 0 Convention Shorts . . .

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General Presidential Candidates

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Floyd McKissick Speaks

ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY, INC. National Headquarters / 4432 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive / Chicago, Illinois

ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY, INC. DIRECTORY FOR 1970-1971 Jewel

Henry

A. Callis

2306

E Street,

N.E.,

Washington,

D.C.

General President — Ernest N. Morial 1821 Orleans Avenue, New Orleans, La. General Treasurer — Leven C. Weiss 4676 West Outer Drive, Detroit, Michigan Comptroller — Isidor J . LaMothe, Jr 1407 University Avenue, Marshall, Texas General Counsel — Morris M. Hatchett 1456 E. Adelaide, St. Louis, Missouri Editor, "The Sphinx" — J . Herbert King 4728 Drexel Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois Executive Secretary — Laurence T. Y o u n g . . . .4432 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, Chicago, Illinois

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Vice Presidents Eastern — W. Decker Clarke Midwestern — James R. Williams Southern — Bennie J. Harris Southwestern — Oell Sutton Western — Thadeaus H. Hobbs

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Contributing Editors Malvin R. Goode, Martin L. Harvey, Eddie L. Madison, Frank L. Stanley, Sr., L. H. Stanton, Charles Wesley, Randolph White, O. Wilson Winters, Laurence T. Young.

Editorial Advisory Committee Malvin R. Goode, Marshall Harris, John H. Johnson, Moss H. Kendrix, Belford V. Lawson, Samuel A. Madden, J. E. Martin, Lionel H. Newsom, Gus T. Ridgel,

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Jefferson City, Missouri 65101 Committee on Housing & Building Foundation

REGIONAL DIRECTORS Eastern Region New Jersey — Bro. Leon Sweeny Maryland — Bro. Charles P. Howard, Jr Connecticut — Bro. Otha N. Brown, Jr New York — Bro. Clarence Jacobs Pennsylvania — Bro. Frank E. Devine Virginia — Bro. Talmage Tabb Massachusetts — Bro. James Howard Rhode Island — Bro. Ralph Allen

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West Michigan — Bro. William Boards. Jr 680 W. Van Buren Street, Battle Creek, Mich.

Southern Michigan — Bro. Robert J. Chillison. II 16155 Normandy, Detroit, Michigan Southwest Ohio — Bro. Holloway Sells 699 N. Crescent Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio Iowa — Bro. Everett A. Mays 701 Hull Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50316 Southern Illinois — Bro. Harold Thomas 1731 Gaty Avenue. East St. Louis. Illinois Northern Illinois — Bro. J . Herbert King 4728 Drexel Blvd., Chicago, Illinois 60615 Kentucky — Bro. Waverly B. Johnson 1306 Cecil Avenue. Louisville, Kentucky Wisconsin — Bro. Hoyt Harper 5344 N. 64th, Milwaukee, Wis. Central Missouri — Bro. Nathaniel R. Goldston, III Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Mo. 65101 West Virginia — Bro. J . A. Shelton Post Office Box, 314 Welch, West Va. Southern Indiana — Bro. Theodore Randall 3810 Rockwood Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana Nebraska — Bro. Thomas A. Phillips 3116 North 16th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68110 Southwestern Region Oklahoma — Bro. Vernon L. Foshee Louuisiana — Bor. Chas. H. Finley Arkansas — Bro. T. E. Patterson Texas — Bro. Reby Cary Texas — Bro. Victor Smith Arkansas — Bro. M. L. Fridia Arkansas —• Bro. George Howard At-Large — Bro. Paul Smith

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The Sphinx has been published continuously since 1914. Organizing Editor: Bro. Raymond W. Cannon. Organizing General President: Bro. Henry Lake Dickason.

Alabama — Bro. Kirkwood Balton Florida — Bro. Dr. Robert L. Smith Georgia — Bro. Dr. Henry M. Collier, Jr Alabama — Bro. John H. Montgomery Mississippi —• Bro. Terrel J . Ranee North Carolina — Bro. J . E. Burke South Carolina — Bro. W J . Davis, Jr Tennessee — Bro. Charles H. Tarpley

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III. 60615.

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tent in any manner is prohibited.

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ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY, INC THERE GOES AN ALPHA MAN There goes a man of high impulse Of princely mien and grace There goes a man of humble faith A credit to his race There goes a man of conscience vast with will to reach his goal There goes a man of lordly rank Of heroes' stock and soul— There goes a man of noble caste Whom hardship cannot break There goes a man in merit clad Whom duty won't forsake There goes a man in cultured verse Who holds a sportsman's creed There goes a man too vigilant To bow to lust or greed There goes a man whose life is spent in service not in scorn There goes a man whose majesty Shines like a May time

There goes a man who is a friend To love and duty truth There goes a man to help uplift The lives of wholesome youth There goes a man with industry and faith at his command.

There goes the best man in and out For he is an Alpha Man.

Volume 56

Number 3

October 1970

J. HERBERT KING Editor-in-Chief 4728 DREXEL BOULEVARD CHICAGO,

ILLINOIS

60615

CONTENTS Convention Greetings

2

General President Speaks

4

Elimination of The Ghetto (Essays)

6

Statement of Public Policy

9

64th Anniversary Convention

11

"A Shade of Blackness"

14

Brother Floyd McKissick

15

Alpha Workshop

16

Proposed Housing

17

Brother McGee, Dayton's Mayor

18

What the Hell do Niggers Want?

22

Brother Paul Robeson

25

Nominees for General President

30

NEXT ISSUE MEET BROTHER RALPH METCALFE ON HIS WAY TO CONGRESS AND THE DAWSON STORY

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR'S OFFICE HARRISBURG

May 1, 1970

GREETINGS: It is a pleasure to extend greetings and warmest wishes to everyone attending the 64th Annual Convention of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., being held in Philadelphia from July 31» 1970 until August 6, 1970.

Philadelphia is historically rich but modernly convenient, and exceptionally well suited for the many diversified activities of a large Convention such as yours.

I sincerely hope your deliberations will be productive and helpful, as we all look toward attaining the goal set by the theme of your Convention, "Elimination of the Ghetto—Goal for the Seventies."

Have an enjoyable and memorable stay.

RAMDND P . SHAFER GOVERNOR

2

C I T JAMES H. J. TATE MAYOR

May 13, 1970

Members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. It is a genuine pleasure for me to welcome you to Philadelphia for your 64th Anniversary Convention to be held July 31 through August 6 at the Penn Sheraton Hotel.

Your choice of Philadelphia as a Convention City and your Convention Theme, "Elimination of the Ghetto - Goal for the Seventies," are most appropriate, for that is our goal as well.

It is a goal which challenges the best talents of our nation, but I am confident it can be attained with the full commitment of us all.

I am sure you will find Philadelphia a friendly and attractive convention city and one most worthy of the activities you plan to conduct here.

With all good wishes and kindest regards, I remain Sincerely yours,

AMES H. J. Mayor

JHJT:mn

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THE GENERAL

PRESIDENT

SPEAKS . . .

G e n e r a l P r e s i d e n t E r n e s t N. M o r i a l We continously hear the clamor for Alpha Phi Alpha to become relevant — Alpha Phi Alpha, since its founding has been relevant and dedicated to change and reform. Alpha Phi Alpha will continue to meet that challenge.

The size of the tasks we have before us, that of untroubling our urban areas, is enormous, and certainly requires the attention of Alpha Phi Alpha. The problems of the disadvantaged peoples in the cities of America are now horribly familiar to all of us — the problems of the ghetto, the slums, of ignorance and poverty, and racial discrimination. The plight of these people were documented during the convention via seminars bearing directly on our theme: ELIMINATION of the GHETTO — GOAL for the SEVENTIES. Aplha Phi Alpha through its history has been instrumental in moves to improve the status of Black Americans.

Many of us in Alpha Phi Alpha, as individuals and members of other organizations, are naturally concerned about the problems of disadvantaged people, but the question has been asked repeatedly — is it our place as an organization to become involved in the problems of human improvement? To many men of Alpha, it seemed that was legitimately the concern of government and of social welfare agencies. I believe it is fair to say that this is the prevailing attitude towards this type of people problem held by many of us today. If times were normal, within limits, such might be an acceptable attitude. But surely none of us need to be told that these are not normal times.

In short, the cause of urban development and urban betterment appears in danger of foundering on unseen problems presented by the needs of socially and economically disadvantaged peoples.

The promise of the theme of this convention is that a clearer grasp of socioeconomic problems of people is essential to the future progress of Black Americans. Our goal is to broaden understanding of the problem of human 4

improvement in relation to the urban environment, thus to spur wiser action by those other sectors of our society whose policies will have been strengthened by the demand of informed Alphamen.

We must give recognition to and emphasize the human values in urban life, but in doing so, let us not assume that urban problems and racial problems are synonymous.

Balance is vital in this area. But balance is difficult in dealing with problems that are emotionally charged. Thus, there is validity in speaking as Ginzberg and Eichner did of The Troublesome Presence in a book on American Democracy and the Negro. Actually we (the Negro) are more a creature than the creator of our (his) environment.

And our current status, no less than our impact upon the urban scene, can never be comprehended unless we keep constantly in mind the influence of society upon us (the Negro) and our (his) reaction to society.

The single most striking fact of urban America today, and for some time (years) to come is that its fate is bound indivisibly to the fate of the America's urban America is inextricably locked to Blacks. I could say that the future of the fate of our urban poor. But I stress Blacks because the real test is whether the urban centers of America will implement a significant rise in the status of the urban American is successful in doing this, more will be resolved than the race problem; but unless and until Blacks enter freely and fully into the mainstream of urban life, our urban centers will remain troubled regardless of what else is done to improve them.

The problems of the urban complex should become the major area of our external concern a n d deliberations throughout the decade of the seventies.

They constitute the most crucial domestic issue of our times. Only the issue of whether mankind can control technological potential for its suicide is of greater importance.

In many neighborhoods of urban America, blight and poverty have existed hand-in-hand, affecting generations of Blacks. And for many of the Blacks involved, escape from the slum and to improvement no longer seems likely. The slums have become ingrown, their residents increasingly isolated — through lack of education, skills and opportunities — from the growing well-being of the larger society.

These conditions afflict a particularly group of the impoverished who labor under special difficulties — Blacks, poor, the elderly and the handicapped. Since the end of World War II, with the acceleration of the suburban exodus and expanding affluence of most of society, Blacks and the poor have increasingly become impacted into large central city areas. The reason for this — available housing, mass transportation and a broader range of job opportunities — are the same reasons that have traditionally attracted the poor to the slums, but there were some significant differences. For one thing, the city slums began to collect an increasing number of Blacks who were in search of the same dream which had drawn earlier immigrants — opportunity for a better life. But the sort of obstacles facing Blacks are deeply rooted in our past. They were, and often are, more severe and enduring than those met — and often superceded by our predecessors. The social and economic heritage of American slavery have ill equipped most Blacks for successful survival in a highly competitive urban environment. These historical impediments are accentuated by the deadly barriers of prejudice and discrimination.

The tragedy of prejudice and discrimination are that they provide an excuse for failure while erecting barriers to success.

Within a few short years after World War II, it was apparent that urban America was headed for serious trouble.

The path to affluence seemed to head right into suburbia, and millions of aspiring white families took it. The slums —which had never been an unbearable burden on the American conscience anyway — proliferated and the physical conditions decayed in consonance with the fiscal conditions of our cities. In fact, the urban areas became caught in their own particular cycle of poverty. As the middle income white families left and were replaced by lower income families (Continued next page 5)

GENERAL PRESIDENT SPEAKS (Continued from page 4) of Blacks and whites, the municipal tax take failed to keep pace with the needs for public expenditure. As municipal services especially to schools, deteriorated, more middle class families left — and, so it went — and, so it goes.

The most important effect of this cycle has been the identification of the poor. Not that people did not know where the poor lived •— slums are readily visible. This country has generally not become preoccupied with the problems of the poor, although there have been occasions when a Jacob Riis, Jane Addams or Michael Harrington could stir reform sentiment.

If the conditions of life for Blacks — joblessness and low incomes, disorganized family situations, problems of physical or mental handicap and the frustrations of blocked opportunities — continue unabated, then the urban crisis will be perpetuated.

Until the post World War II era, the struggle for civil rights among Negroes was primarily a middle class led movement, and the masses of non-whites generally identified with the occasional successes of better trained and more culturally integrated colored/Black Americans. But this has changed, due, in part, to the rise of class unemployment during the last two decades. Many residents of the urban ghettoes of today have lost their identification with middle classoriented Negro leadership, at the same time that the mass media of information have rendered them impatient with lower class incomes and standards of living. Many Negroes/Blacks no longer believe that they can achieve economic and social upward mobility through thrift and self-preparation. Thus, the proximity of a few successful Negroes/ Blacks has little significance per se; such persons — Alphamen — if they are to provide leadership must do more than be successful. They need to be social scientists, appreciating the environmental factors which dull and destroy motivation and identifying with the total Negre/Black community. Not all Alphamen are capable of doing this; not all are vital to the elimination of the Ghetto.

There is no one within the sound of my voice who does not realize that this nation has experienced and is experiencing a Negro/Black revolution. But

AN ALPHA NAMED AGNEW AIDE

few of us have viewed these developments from an historical perspective.

Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. has done so in A Thousand Days.

"Eevery great period of social change in American history has been set off by the demand of some excluded but aggressive group for larger participation in the national democracy: in the age of Jackson by the frontier farmer, the city worker, the smali entrepreneur; in the Progressive era by the bankrupt farmers of the middle border and the by passed upper class of the cities; in the New Deal by labor in mass-production industries, the unemployed and the intellectuals. The uprising of the Negroes now contained the potentiality of ushering in a new era which would not only give Negroes their rights but renew the democratic commitment of the national community . . ."

Of course, as Schlesinger points out, there are dangers in the situation Rapid Change and the demand for reform always involve dangers and inevitably occasion tensions and some violence, as the history summarized by Schlesinger also attests. And, the end is not yet in sight, although it is within our capacity to shorten the period of crisis and minimize the costs of reform.

Urban America today is in the midst of a massive social and economic revolution which is shaking the whole structure of our society. The acid test is whether our democratic traditions can survive and emerge from this crisis as they have done from others.

To meet the test demands vigorious leadership, courage and vision. It requires immagination as well as greater understanding; but most of all, it calls for dedication —- the dedication exemplified by the Founders of Alpha Phi Alpha.

The final test will not be what we said during the 1970 cenvention, but what advance in thought, what change of attitude, ultimately what action — and may I underscore this — ultimately what action results from our discussions.

NOW IT IS IN YOUR HANDS ! ! !

Ernest N. Morial General President

Brother Frank Williams

Brother Frank Williams, desegregation specialist for Brevard schools, has been appointed to a key slot on Vice President Spiro Agnew's cabinet committee on school desegregation.

The 45-year-old educator, who doubled as Brevard's federal projects' director, confirmed his appointment as assistant to the executive director Wednesday.

The Titusville native earlier had acaccepted a job as professor of education at Florida Technological University starting in September, but has been granted a leave of absence.

"It was too big an opportunity to pass up," he said. Brother Williams officially starts his new job July 1, but is serving as a consultant until then. Wednesday he was in Washington, D.C., apartment hunting.

The cabinet committee was started by President Nixon under a $150 million grant to promote school desegregation throughout the nation.

About $350 million more is expected to be appropriated next year.

Brother Williams, appointed to the Brevard post by former Supt, B. Frank Brown, is credited by school officials as being the key man in the county's smooth transition from segregated to desegregated schools.

When there was trouble, it was Brother Williams whom school officials depended on to straighten it out.

A 1949 graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Brother Williams taught adult education and social studies at Gibson Junior High in Titusville and later served as principal of the school.

He received his doctorate from the University of Florida in 1968 and was appointed director of federal projects and desegration specialist.

5

ALPHA ESSAY CONTEST WINNERS 1. The Alpha Phi Alpha Memorial Scholarship has been awarded to Kossuth Snyder for the third straight year.

It amounts to approximately $2,400.00. He will be a junior in The School of Engineering.

2. The Coca Cola — Alpha Phi Alpha Scholarship has been awarded to Joseph Clark of Muskogee, Oklahoma, a June graduate of Manual Training High School. He will attend Northeastern Oklahoma State College. Nominees for the 1971-72 scholarship should be sent by chapters directly to the National Scholarship Service and Fund for Negro Students, 1776 Broadway, New York, New York 10019.

3. An essay contest for college students was sponsored on the convention theme, Elimination of the Ghetto: Goal for the Seventies. Entries were received in three regions.

Winners of the Regional Contests are: Eastern Region, William Ross, Director First Place: James L. Saylor, University of Pittsburgh Second Place: John W. Wilborn, 111, University of Pitsburgh Third Place: Agnes Fields, Virginia Union University

Southern Region, W. P. Smith, Director First Place: Nathaniel Ray, Allen University Second Place: David George, Allen University Third Place: Carolyn A. Sheehee, Edward Waters College Southwestern Region, Norman Francis, Director First Place: Linda Gale Oliver, Grambling College Second Place: Michael Ray Johnson, Grambling Col. Third Place: Arvetta Turner, Grambling College Prizes were awarded as follows: First Place—$100; Second Place—$50; Third Place $25.

All three winners of each regional contest automatically qualified for the national contest which was judged by the faculty of the Department of English of Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Missouri.

National winners are: Linda Gale Oliver, Grambling College, First prize — $200; Arvetta R. Turner, Grambling College, Second prize — $100; Nathaniel Ray, Allen University, Third prize — $50.

ELIMINATION OF THE GHETTO: GOAL OF THE SEVENTIES by Nathaniel Ray, Allen University Man has destroyed in haste, created in confusion, and has misplaced human values since his beginning. Man must now begin to deviate from standards, examine the "farfetched," and ask questions, give answers that were never thought of before. We have in time past destroyed houses and communities. We have in time past uprooted people and families. And yet we have again created sub-standard communities that harbor murderers, rapists, dope addicts, broken homes, and hopelessness on a grand scale. We must start looking in new directions to solve the problem of the ghettos. more complex the problem, the more complex the solution will be. When a problem is as widespread as the one we have, there will be many theories. But who is to say which, if any, is the right one?

The ghetto is like a giant jigsaw puzzle with many interwoven parts, one contributing to the other. The low standard of education contributes to school drop-outs, and to juvenile deliquency, which in turn contributes to dope and rape, which contribute to murder and unwed mothers. After this cycle has repeated itself through four generations, pieces are scrambled everywhere, and here is not one set way to unscramble them. But if we can put a few pieces together more will fall into place.

Why do we want to rid this country of the ghetto? Not only to save our cities, our whole country, from the crime of the ghetto, but also to help the people who now live there.

6

First, we must educate and enlighten. All must realize the problem and want to eliminate it. Those in the ghetto must achieve new values and hopes for the future, not only for themselves but for their children and their children's children. These values and hopes must be concentrated to the point where they will last for generations to come. But the values and hopes must be visible: they must be the working kind. They must not again delude and drain people of their inheritance and a national dream of happiness. This change should be our first and main concern. Then and only then will we begin to eliminate the ghetto.

James Russell Lowell once said, "Human nature has a much greater genius for sameness than for originality." But if man cannot avoid the same mistakes, if he cannot make changes, it is his time to perish from the face of the earth as the dinosaur has done. Man creates his future day by day.

Now is the day for man to put tomorrow's generation forward. Now is the day for us to say, we will have no substandard houses in the future. Now is the day for us to say we will have no drop-outs; now is the day for us to say we will have no uneducated; now is the day for us to say we will have no ghettos in the future.

And today, if we can educate the completely uneducated, it we can educate high school and college students, if we can educate the professors and the artists, if we can educate big business and government, if we can educate our society, then we can say, "We will have no ghettos in the future!"

(Continued on page 7)

ESSAY...

(Continued from page 6) The next ten years will be the determininb period in the history of man. He will secure his future being on this earth for a long time to come or he will insure his selfdestruction. Just as with our water and our air, cities are at the danger point. If we don't come up with a working solution, one that can be improved on as time passes, there won't be any cities to improve. The longer it takes to find a solution, the more compound the danger will be. If the nation's overall population increases 35% the population of the inner city, the ghetto, will increase by 55%. Therefore not only must we find a solution, and a good one, but we must find it now.

We have exploited; have created crime, deceit and holelessness. We have taken away fro mthe earth the life-giving trees and have replaced them with monstrous apartments and projects to imprison ourselves. How much longer must we endure these prisons, how much longer expose ourselves and our children to the cold the heat; to the rats and the roaches? How long must these children want for a decent meal, decent clothes, decent education, and a decent life?

Is there no limit to the torture we must bear? Are there no answers to the questions we seek? must we resort to the cries of "civil disobedience"?

2120-1/2 Lady Street Columbia, South Carolina 29204 Certified as original Department of English

ELIMINATION OF THE GHETTO: GOAL OF THE SEVENTIES by Arvetta R. Turner, Grambling College "Where is the ghetto? Soul, ain't you ever seen a ghetto?

Man, that's where you and I live."

These are the hip words of a poor black man at the point where life is not too much more than a word. At this point, it becomes necessary for me to ask the question, Why are there so many proposed policies within the framework of this our great nation, to eliminate the ghetto? There is the war on poverty, food stamp program, welfare and several other programs to help with the ghetto problem and the problem of being poor within itself. But with all the policies and various programs there has not yet been a suitable combination to unlock and solve the problem of eliminating the ghetto.

Webster defines the ghetto as any section of a city in which many members of an ethnic or racial group live. !But this is the white man's definition of the ghetto. As far as he is concerned, it matters not if blacks live in such economic sickness. Since there are more blacks than whites in the ghetto, there will always be a ghetto before the white man eliminates it. For a black child a ghetto is his learning tree. Between rows of tenemnnts he learns how to fight, curse, lie, cheat, hustle, use dope and a thousand other things the normal child does not usually learn in a life time. For a black man the ghetto is a cancer on the brain of opportunity. For a black woman the ghetti is hanging rope around the neck of womanhood.

The ghetto not only kills, but is also makes an individual a human beast from another world. To be deprived, to be hungry, to want a good education, to be placed at the end of every line, and to see a child cry because he is hungry for love and attention have a way of making a man less than a man.

If this happens to man in the space age scene of today, let us get together to stop slow down, and prevent ghetto life as much as possible. Demonstrating, marching, protesting and all other methods to make the government listen to problems is fine. But all the demonstrating in the world will not feed little Ann.

Paradoxically speaking, is it not true that there are actually fewer people suffering from absolute economic reprivation than ever before? As our distinguished guest speaker in assembly last Wednesday morning, Mr. Charles Evers stated, "The United States is spending billions of dollars on foreign policies, moon expeditions, and leaving the home front poverty stricken." There are people living in the ghetto who would d oall they could to help better their conditions.

For these people I have a quick solution that would put them at least two notches higher than they are. After giving them these notches it would be left o he individual o build himself.

First with the help of state and federal governments each family would be given jobs within the ghetto to state a program of cleaning, up fixing up and tearing down within the ghetto. With a few directors, paint would be given to each family to cover unsightly walls. Each family would be given dead lines to finish all walls that would just stand painting. For the old people, their walls would be painted by youth who hang around on the block, directed by a fellow member of the ghetto, creating jobs for many. Tile, wood, nails and other necessary materials donated by the government to better living conditions and supervised carefully by those within the community who are willing would raise things one notch.

The second step is set up day-care centers with members of the ghetto working along with skilled people so that mothers could train for jobs. All those who are interested should be taught a trade with on-the-job training. Schoosl within the area should be fixed up with housing area. Young, understanding teachers who are qualified and who care should have first preference, then older instructors should be hired.

This is the main solution for those who want help. Like everything, there are always two parts to r.ny story. For the second part of the ghetto, those who are satisfied, do not want to work, and want to be given "hand-outs" fro mthe government. I think they should be given at least one chance to prove they can work well at jobs that interest them.

If they still have a negative attitude, all hope will have to be abandoned.

(Continued on page 8) 7

ESSAY...

(Continued from page 7) Economical statistics on poverty are concerned with age and geography. There is a distinction which cannot be rendered mathematically between poverty and low income.2 This is to say that when it comes to drawing a line or figuring the annual income of the poor, one cannot. A poverty stricken old couple in Louisiana might be considered better off than a young low income family living in Harlem.

In this society I would propose that poverty is now at its worst. I would also propose that our American society has been transformed into conformity with the wants rather than the needs of the poor. There are some low income families in the ghetto in reasonable "go" living conditions.

By this I mean those riding around in welfare "GTO's", and missing the payments on the grocery bill and that month's rent plus. The clothes the poor wears makes the minvisible.

Just walking along, one would think the young lady dressed in that bad mini skirt suit, matching shoes and bag, and brown wig lived up-town, when she is a welfare mother of six. There are those who are more decently dressed than they are housed, fed, or doctored. To this type of ghetto dweller I simply say, "Right on brother, right on.'

To each individual with the ghetto there will be a different answer. The answer for the Joneses in one tenement apartment will not be the answer for the rest of the block. Therefore extra time will have to be taken for certain situations.

While one might have a drinking problem, the next person might be a widow with five children. Different strokes for different folks. Although there are no perfect conditions, — estates cannot be made out of the ghettos — something can be done. If we have money to go to the moon, we have money to help the poor. With our efforts and their efforts we both can solve at least 60% of the ghetto dwellers' problems.

These are only suggestions to one of our many problems here on earth, but like other problems, the government will have to take over any project calling for such large amounts of money.' Since ghetto life seems to break more people than it makes, it has become one of our greatest crisis.

So far, the effort put forth to help our homefolks has a good foundation. From this foundation we all must put our little forces together to bring the programs up from the ground. If it takes votes, boycotts, marching, violence, something has to be done because things are too far gone. The establishment has to hear, understand, and then take actions to help those in need.

Plans will not eliminate the ghetto for the seventies, but actions will. Action, time, money, faith and ability are some good tools for elimination.

1 Webster, Webster's New World Dictionary (Cleveland and New York, 1963), College Edition.

2 Irwin T. Sanders, The Community (New York, 1966), p. 39.

ELIMINATION OF THE GHETTO: GOAL OF THE SEVENTIES by Linda Gale Oliver, Grambling College There is a growing recognition that the ghetto is onei of America's greatest problems (and one that is desperately in need of a solution.) The ghetto is a pocket of poverty and misery, a city of crowded, dingy tenements and garbarefilled streets, in which living conditions are neither lovely 1 nor gracious. For many people in the ghetto, there is no work: for others, there is only low pay for menial work.

Poverty and hunger abound, as do high crime levels, high1 mortality, economic exploitation, and substandard living.

Homes, which are usually tenements, are overcrowded, old1 and dilapidated. The homes have leaky ceilings, faulty plumbing, and cockroaches and rats, who dominate the houses, disregarding poison that is put out to kill them. In addition to' the above sordid facts, family life in the ghetto is unstable,> and the children are very poorly educated.

America, realizing that something should be done to' eliminate the ghetto areas, has proposed countless programs5 for improving the lot of the disadvantaged ghetto inhapitants.

Unfortunately, none of the plans were successful in completely' eliminating the ghetto. After the plans had been carried out, many of the worst ghetto problems still remained. Despite that fact, America takes an optimistic view of the ghetto, and applies such sayings as "Every little bit helps," and "Rome wasn't built in a day."

8

However, in recent years the conviction has been spreading that the decade of the seventies will be the era in which America's goal to eliminate the ghetto will be attained.

Obviously, thae only solution o he problem of he ghetto is to offer rehabiliation, education, and self-help programs to individuals living in the ghetto areas.

At one time, America thought tha housing programs or urban renewal was he solution to the gheto problem. Her main objecive was to get the problem families out of the dreadful ghetto. Consequently, she believed that Dad would stop drinking, Mama would stop chasing around, and Junior would stop stealing and playing hookey from school. However, getting these people into a nice apartment with a modern kichen is not eliminating he gheto, for other factors— such as a lack of education, lack of recreational and community facilities, and a lack of job opportunities — contribute to the making of the ghetto. Removing a person from a rotting tenement and putting him in a nice apartment does not change his ways or rehabilitate him. But, one cannot deny the fact that housing programs are a step on the road to building an environment in which (he ghetto will not exist.

Therefore, the initial step toward eliminating the ghetto should be to rehabilitate people living in the ghetto through education and self-help programs.

(Continued on page 10)

dl 64tk ~Ainnive, r&aru Coonvenuon

. . .

STATEMENT OF PUBLIC POLICY Our nation is moving closer to the brink of a diastrous polarization between blacks and whites, and increasing repressions of blacks are in fact taking place. Because Alpha Phi Alpha believes that it must work for the elimination of the Ghetto within the framework of the nation's Constitution, we submit the following public statement: Recognizing the Urban Crisis as one of the most serious domestic problems, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity demands that the National Administration reorder our national priorities. Of primary concern are our urban ghettoes. Our cities are in deep financial crisis from which they can never extricate themselves through their own financial resources.

The Federal Government has preempted the taxing power, hence, cities, — without reform in our tax structure, can never provide the services which citizens demand with their limitited income.

The funds appropriated by the National Government for Model Cities, and all other programs of Urban Renewal, are a mere pittance as compared with urban needs. Let us face it: The Black population in the ten largest cities has increased tremendously during the past two decades.

In New York, the Black population is now approaching a fifth of the total; Chicago more than a fourth; Detroit more than a third; in Philadelphia about a third; almost a half in Baltimore and more than three fifths in the nation's capitol of Washington. The areas of these cities where Black people live have the most deteriorated housing; the oldest and most overcrowded schools; the highest rates of unemployment; the lowest median family income; the least political participation; and the highest crime rates. Only by reordering our priorities and making a real commitment to deal with the urban crisis can there ever be any significant change in the urban condition.

EDUCATION The support of education is part and parcel of the urban condition. Increased support of education by the Federal Government is urgent and the need is immediate if we are to stem the tide of total chaos and deterioration in our schools — both public and private. It is unconscionable that the Congress of the United States appropriates a mere five billion dollars for ALL educational programs, which bill the President threatens to veto, — and seventy billion ldollars for defense.

Practically every school in the ghetto, where such a large proportion of our children attend, is over crowded, operates on a split-shift; — the buildings are dilapidated, and the curricula are less than relevant to the demands which are being made on our children as they seek employment. Black history, taught to all children, black and white, should be an integral part of public school curricula.

These conditions grow worse. Dropout rates increase; in some instances they are more than fifty per cent of the enrollment at the high school level. Although Negroes constitute the majority enrollment at and in many of our urban schools, a majority that reaches as much as ninety per cent, only one large urban public school system has a Negro superin-

tendent. The Federal Government, through the appropriate agencies should insist that the present racial imbalance in the schools, north and south, — east and west, — should be removed. The school situation has reached crisis proportions. It requires immediate intelligent action that will reduce dropouts and provide the highest quality of education, vocational and academic, for all children.

We believe that the existing large scale poverty in the United States, — the wealthiest nation in the world, — is cruel, unjust and unnecessary. It is estimated that more than 35 million people in our country are below the poverty level. Fourteen million of these are black. We demand congressional action to alleviate the suffering of these millions of unfortunate citizens who are ill-clad, under-fed, poorly housed and educationally shortchanged. There can be no ligitimate excuse for the persistence of these conditions in a society which can spend more than seventy per cent of the national budget for armed warfare.

THE WAR AND LABOR We urge the President of the United States to withdraw our troops from the inhuman Vietnam war immediately. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity unequivocably endorses Whitney M. Young, Jr's (Executive Director of the National Urban League) recommendations for this nation and President Nixon and the Congress for eliminating the ghetto-poverty, unemployment and other inequites. We stand for and urge the full utilization of Black workers in the construction industry, —the largest single industry in the country, by opening up apprenticeship programs to all blacks who apply; upgrading their skills and the economic benefits of those black mechanics who have been disadvantaged in employment; open hiring halls; and the elimination of the seniority system which causes those recently included Black workers to be the first fired when business — cycle turns downward.

We support and demand full economic participation of Black contractors, sub-contractors and Building tradesmen in the rebuilding of our cities and the countryside by employing them i at least the proportion that Balck people bear to the local community.

BLACK ENTREPRENEURSHIP We support the efforts of public spirited citizens and institutions tao increase Black entrepreneuship especially in black communities, but we do not suggest withdrawal from full participation in the economic mainstream of America.

We still demand that Black people be employed as executives, with the full power and authority of the office, in industrial and commercial corporations. However, we should be mindful of a new kind of exploitation. It is now fashionable and good business to be black and for whites to invest again in the business of the black community. We should be on guard against this new type of exploitation investors. We must demand that Negro entrepreneurs be assisted by larger business and not be swallowed up by them .The agreements must assure Blacks equality of status in the enterprise.

(Continued on page 10) 9

ESSAY...

(Continued from page 8) There is little doubt in the minds of most experts that the lack of education has a definite relationship to the problems that now exist in the ghetto. Children in the ghetto have many educational disadvantages. The schools are usually overcrowded and understaffed. In addition, the parents are usually uneducated and provide little encouragement for the child to get a formal education. Most children, tired of being deprived of some of the basic necessities and all of the luxuries of life, drop out of school. They in turn try to get a job: unfortunately, because of a lack of education they get a menial job. As a result, they start a new cycle of poverty and ghetto life.

One can assert that education provides one with the opportunity to step out of the ghetto. A better education will give one the ability and training necessary to obtain a better job, which pays more money, and which will allow the individual to live at a higher income level.

Therefore, if the ghetto is to be eliminated in the decade of the seventies, the educational systm of the ghetto must be upgraded. Furthermore, night schools should be astablished, and all persons who did not finish high school should be encouraged to attend.

For some of the people living in the ghetto, it is just a little too late for education; but self-help programs can apply to them. Under the self-help program, the low-income, unskilled, and unemployed ghetto men should be employed

PUBLIC POLICY (Continued from page 9) LAW AND ORDER WITH JUSTICE While we support law and order, it must be with the guarantee that Blacks will have protection FROM the law as well as protection BY the law. Social justice is a prerequisite to social order in a democratic society. The plea for law and order, on a selective basis, is an open invitation to lawlessness. For example, integration of public educational institutions has been the la wof the land for more than sixteen years. Yet, even the Federal Government is still saying: "cease and desist' where violations are open and flagrant.

Yet and still any crime of a black man ignites the wrath of the demagogues who cry for law and order .

The "NO KNOCK" provision of the District of Columbia Crime Bill enacted by Congress and signed into law by the President, is now a threat to every Black man, woman and child in America. For the Black man in this nation, his home is not his castle.

URGE PRESIDENTIAL ACTION It is universally recognized that the National Administration has given minimum attention to Civil Rights legislation.

The "Southern Strategy" of this administration has brought the implementation of the 1954 United States Court Decision to a stand-still. It is now obvious that "BENIGN NEGLECT" is the intended position of this administration.

We therefore urge the President of the United States to take more positive action in the alleviation of these prob10

as workers in the construction of low-income housing. The housing program can provide people who live in the ghetto with jobs as well as housing facilities. In addition, the men would get on-the-job training in construction and could obtain a job in this field. Self-help would provide ghetto inhabitants with a meaningful experience and a sense of contribmuting to neighborhood development.

Since men are not the only inhabitants of the ghetto who would receive benefits from rehabilitation, the women who live in the ghetto must also be considered. Various centers should be established to teach women such skills as clerical work, sewing and nursing. After these women have learned a trade, they can find a decent job with a good salary. The salary can be used to supplement the family income, and to enable them to take a gaint step away from ghetto life. Also, the centers should offer instructions concerning budgets, and birth control methods.

Furthermore, all levels of government should coordinate their programs and funds in a massive attack on the problem of the ghetto. Together, they should build a variety of community and recreational facilities, overhaul the entire school system, and provide more jobs.

How this fight against the ghetto will end is anybody's guess. Success will depend on concerned citizens, not only in the ghetto areas but in all segments of the American Society. Americans cannot escape the ghetto problem by simply fleeing to the suburbs. The elimination of the ghetto is an urgent, a desperately urgent problem for every single American. There is only one solution and that is to give the ghetto inhabitants the quality education, the career opportunities, and jobs necessary to make a decent living.

lems and give immediate attention to the demands of more than TWENTY-TWO MILLION Black United States Citizens.

We further urge the Federal Government to give immediate attention to continuing the interim funding of Tuskegee's School of Ceterinary Medicine.

Actions by this administration will be positive evidence that it is sensitive to the needs of the Black population in this nation.

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity strongly supports a call for a coalition of Black organizations representing all kinds opinion and need within the Black community, which call has recently been issued to leaders of national Black organizations by our brother Whitney M. Young, Jr. LIONEL H. NEWSOM, Chairman OTHA M. BROWN EDWIN L. HAYNES MARTIN L. HARVEY BELFORD V. LAWSON, Jr. ALBERT HOLLAND CLIFTON R. JONES, Secretary JAMES H. McGEE R. LEANDRAS JONES GGUS T. RIDGEL WALTER WASHINGTON MARSHALL E. WILLIAMS HERBERT T. MILLER

64th Anniversary

Convention...

BROTHER MORIAL MET THE PRESS This is what was said

Co-Chairman of Convention

Ernest N. Morial, 40, objects whenanyone refers to Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity as an "elitist" Negro organization.

Morial, who is general president of the oldest black fraternity (founded in 1906 at Cornell University), recalls that the organization was civil rights conscious as far back as 1913. The fraternity that year coined the phrase "A voteless people is a hopeless people," and began a nationwide campaign to get Negroes on voter-registration rolls.

That year, Morial said in an interview on the last day of the fraternity's 64th annual convention this week at the Sheraton, there were fewer than 1,000 Uegro high school graduates in the nation. That fact impelled the organization to begin creation of scholarship funds to encourage Negroes to prepare themselves for college.

Denies 'Elitism' "There's certainly nothing elitist about me or our organization," said Morial.

A graduate of Xavier University in New Orleans, he was the first Negro to graduate from the law school at Louisiana State University in 1950.

Morial completed the law course in an accelerated program and began private practice. After eight months, he joined the Army, serving for 22 months.

Out of service, he began practicing law with A. P. Turead, an established attorney who, like Morial, was concerned with racial discrimination in New Orleans.

Desegregation Fight With his partner and Thurgood Marshall, then chief counsel of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Morial began suits against colleges throughout Louisiana which were not desegregated; Marshall is now an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

As president of the New Orleans branch of the NAACP, from 1960 to 1962, Morial waged a steady campaign, in and out of courts, for desegregation in public eating placings, in transportation, for employment of Negroes in department stores.

In 1965, he was appointed an assistant United States attorney.

President of ZETA 0MICR0N LAMBDA

Brother Weiss listens while the General President talks.

Won Election "I handled some pretty challenging suits involving civil rights in that capacity, until I resigned in June, 1967, to run for the State Legislature in Louisiana," he said.

"I won handily, defeating the white candidate supported by the political machine."

When he entered the Legislature, Morial became the first Negro to sit in that body since the Reconstruction era following the Civil War. He was appointed by President Kennedy to membership on the Lawyers' Civil Rights Committee, was the first president of the New Orleans Legal Assistance Program, is founder of the Community Relations Council of New Orleans, a private organization designed to improve interracial and intercultural relations, and is the only Negro member of the House of Delegates of the Louisiana Bar Association.

A Fourth generation resident of New Orleans, where his mother Leonie, 76, still lives, he and his wife have five children, Julie, 13; Mark, 12; Jacque nine; Cheri, four, and Monique, four months.

Brothers Hunt and Harvey intently listen to what????

Co-Chairman of Convention

Bro. James W. Hewitt

11

64th Anniversary Convention . . .

Comments from Philadelphia Newspapers

by Les Fuller The head of the oldest and largest black college fraternity in the world has called for elimination of ghettos throughout the nation.

"We have not abandoned ghetto residents," Ernest N. Morial, national president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., said at the Sheraton Hotel, where the group is holding its 64th annual convention.

by Onin C. Evans Of The Bulletin Staff Floyd R. McKissick, former director of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), urged Negroes to become involved in the economic process in America.

"If you don't understand economics," he told the 64th annual convention of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity in session at the Sheraton Hotel, "you ain't got nothing."

"We want our voices to be heard," said Morial, a lawyer from New Orleans and the first black elected to the Louisiana Legislature since Reconstruction.

"Both the white and black press should emphasize that this fraternity was bora out of protest. We are involved in the thrust of black people, seeking progress in housing and economic development, education, crime and law enforcement."

"Pretty near everything in this country is involved in economics," he told a luncheon meeting attended by 700 members of the nation's oldest Negro college fraternal organization.

HE SAID the organization, whose convention theme is "Elimination of the Ghetto; The Goal of the Seventies," has undertaken a $3-million housing effort in St. Louis for low and middle income families.

Industrial Leaders Rapped

Speaking on crime and law enforcement, Morial said: "We cannot have law and order without justice and we must have adequate police protection for those in the ghetto."

The fraternity was founded in 1907 as a black social service organization by seven black students at Cornell University. Its membership is 45,000.

Dr. Dunbar S. McLaurin, economic consultant to Morial and founder of the Freedom National Bank of New York City's Harlem in 1964, said the fraternity acts "as a catalyst" and "we are not a profit-making organization." He said the group was spearheading programs for decent housing and organization more black-owned banks and other business enterprises."

12

Emphasizing the necessity of the fraternity members to become "realistic" about the importance of economics, McKissick said: "Preachers ask you to get down on your knees every Sunday and pray, but I've never seen any of them fail to take up a collection."

One of the nation's most militant civil rights leaders, McKissick in Oct., 1967, took a leave of absence from CORE to work on programs designed to help Negroes move into positions of power and responsibility in 14 major cities and Southern rural areas.

He castigated the nation's industrial leaders for what he believes their failure to live up to commitments to Negroes.

Bankers Criticized "American industry," he said, "has not come through to the black men in his promise to him."

McKissick also criticized the nation's banking leaders for what he considered insensitivity to problems faced by Negro small businessmen.

"He will apply for a loan," said McKissick, "and the bankers demand a balance statement. How is a Negro businessman going to come up with a balance statement? It just shows that they're using all the tricks in the book to prevent you from participating in the economic picture.

"You apply for aid, and they want to determine what your philosophy is, and how much you love white folks," continued McKissick.

McKissick admitted that he believed in "revolution."

"No black man who is living isn't a potential revolutionary," he said. "It's just a matter of the extent of provocation he suffers."

Honor Awards Made At an evening reception on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th St. and the Parkway, the fraternity presented five awards of honor to persons who had examplified service toward the elimination of the ghetto.

The awards went to: Dr. Robert W. Henry Sr., a South Philadelphia physician who has maintained a residence and office near 15th and Catharine Sts. since 1910; Floyd L. Logan; founder and president for 38 years of the Educational Equality League in Philadelphia; Clarence Farmer, chairman of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Rights; Irene F. Perseley, director of Region 1, the Philadelphia area, of the Department of Public Welfare of Pennsylvania; and Rev. Robert DuBois, of the House of Prayer Episcopal Church, Limekiln pike and Church lane, a charter member of the Opportunities Industrialization Center.

More than 700 delegates are registered at the convention, which ends on Thursday.

CONVENTION STATISTICS Representation College Chapters 25 Alumni Chapters 115 REGISTERED DELEGATES: College 32 Alumni 237 269 ATTENDANCE: (Probably reflects duplication in some areas) Registration: (both categories Pre-Registrants 282 Regular 458 740 Past General Presidents 4 General Officers 14 Committee Chairmen 7 Alpha Wives — Other Ladies 385 Alpha Children and Visitors 308 Attendance at Banquet 961) (not served) 88) 1,049 Attendance at Public Program 621 TOTAL CONVENTION PARTICIPATION

3,128

u

PHUN I N PHILLY". . . 64th Anniversary Conventio

National Convention Chairman

President of Rho-Chapter

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KlfejM Bro Kermit J. Hall

Bro. William Ross, Jr.

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Hertz says welcome to the "City of Brotherly Love," as their gal Arlene Baylor (right) greets and presents to General President Ernest N. Morlal, and his very charming and lovely wife, Sybil, the keys to a Hertz courtesy car.

ALPHA BETTES—Zeta Omicron Lambda Chapter Zeta Omicron Lambda Chapter

Alpha Bettes of Rho Chapter

13

Alpha Phi Alpha's

Problem...

1%

A SHADE OF BLACKNESS"

S. E. P. I. A. * * * What is it ?

Brother H. Gray Gillem, Sr. The 1969 General Convention in Houston, Texas experienced Alpha's introduction to a new era, the closing out of the 1960's in preparation for the involvement in the 1970's. Our new General President felt the pulse and cocked an attentive ear to the sclerotic and pounding heartbeat of the Fraternity. The diagnosis was clear, —"Old Age." — The treatment was imminent, — a program transplant, — a social action program. — The order was given, — the medication prescribed was a Social Action Committee. — The prognosis, — "Adding Life To Our Years."

The 1970 General Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania experienced the beginning of the new era, the beginning of a relevant and possibly viable new program, the "S. E. P. I. A. Program," — the Social, Economic, Political Involvement and Action Program. The program transplant was accepted well by the body and was beginning to grow!

How well it will continue to grow and cure the ills of the body is dependent upon the involvement and action of the body.

"When we consider that the community is the 'man writ large' we must not lose sight of the fact that this "man's" physical well being, his social, economic and political well being is as much inter-related as the heart is to the kidneys or the circulation is to the muscles."

What is "S. E. P. I. A."? — "A shade of blackness." — A Black Fraternity's Program. — Alpha's Program!

SOCIAL action through the involvement of every Alpha Brother as an individual, every Alpha Chapter as a unit, every Alpha District with their chapter's representatives in

an organized bond, every Alpha Region with a total commitment, and firm direction from the Board of Directors along with the necessary financial backing from the General Organization — to involve actively in existing community organizations and where the need exists, to organize and work for the development of minority human resources . . .

ECONOMIC development through Alpha's programming in Black Capitalism; — Black investments by our brothers, chapters and by Alpha Phi Alpha towards building a Black economic base for business, housing, education and services...

POLITICAL involvement and participation by actively supporting, rallying support, and running for offices by Alphas and our Black and minority brothers; negotiating and supporting our own for boards, commissions, committees and representation in major organizations where input may be given to improve conditions of black and minority people. We must contribute to community coalescence through developing equitable opportunity for all people . . .

INVOLVEMENT of all Alpha brothers with the collaboration and cooperation of all Black and minority people in a social, economic and political progra mfor the development of a better way of life in America . . .

Action now ! ! — Procrastination only allows chaos to prevail and chaos is a detriment to advancement. We have had rhetoric too long, dialogue is becoming tiresome, involvement towards the implementation of the concepts of the S. E. P. I. A. Program will enhance the cure of the ills of the man write large."

Brother Norman C. Francis Speaks .

(From Philadelphia Bulletin)

S. E.P.I. A.; "A SHADE OF BLACKNESS," RELEVANCY FOR ALPHA NOW ! ! !

Negro University President Pleads for Racial Harmony

by Orrin C. Evans Of The Bulletin Staff Dr. Norman C. Francis, the first Negro president of Xavier University in New Orleans, last night appealed to America's "silent majority" for better understanding between whites and blacks.

Dr. Francis made the plea at the annual banquet of Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation's oldest Negro fraternity, which is holding its 64th annual convention at the Sheraton.

"I am trying to articulate for the silent majority the feelings of blacks whom many of the white majority feel are moving too fast," he said.

He told more than 1,500 persons at the banquet that there is a "strong feeling of confusion" throughout the nation as a result of a lack of understanding between blacks and whites.

14

Dr. Francis was named president of Xavier, the only predominately NegroCatholic university in the western hemisphere, two years ago. Xavier was foundded by the late Rev. Mother Mary Katharine Drexel, who instituted Negro and Indian missions in the U.S. as educational subsidiaries of the Catholic Order of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, Cornwells Heights.

The three previous presidents of Xavier were white women of religious orders.

Dr. Francis compared the mounting racial tensions in America today to "dissident groups with no common language during the period that the biblical Tower of Babel was being built."

"In those days they had a common goal, but they didn't speak the same language and couldn't understand each other", he said. "That's pretty much what is happening today; we all have

a common goal but we don't understand each other."

What Negroes face, he continued, is the problem of how to convince the nation's whites that "Negroes aren't as well off as they may appear to be."

"We've got to articulate the extent of the gap between us, and convince them that the gap won't be closed until the educational process is such that it will bridge that gap between Negroes and whites," he said.

Emphasis throughout the convention, which opened last Friday, has been on housing, economic development, education, and law and order and law enforcement in the nation's Negro ghetto areas.

More than 700 delegates are attending the convention, which ends today.

Next year the convention will be in Milwaukee.

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Alpha Told W h i t e M a n Fears U. S. Revolution A Speech by Brother McKissick

Intently listens to applause .

'Oh, Lord may the tru espirit of the Fraternity . . . ."

"The white man is afraid of revolution and there isn't a black man living who isn't a potential revolutionary."

Fiery civil rights leader Floyd McKissick, former director of the Congress of Racial Equality, made this pronouncement Monday during a speech before 2,000 wildly applauding persons at the annual Alpha Phi Alpha convention here.

Minutes earlier he had urged members of the predominantly black audience to help get rid of "the biggest myth of the 1950's." "That myth," he said, "is that someday all white people will love all niggers and all niggers will love all white people.

"If you believe this myth," he said, "the First Amendment to the Constitution supports your right to believe it, but, remember that the Amendments weren't intended for you in the first place. They were intended to protect the white man's rights and he doesn't need them.

"I can't understand why it has taken so many Amendments to the Constitution to make niggers free. We've had the 1st, 13th ad the 14th Amendments passed and niggers still aren't free. Whites have never needed any Amendments."

McKissick's barbed remarks were delivered during a luncheon at the Sheraton Hotel before members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and their guests.

In his speech, McKissick was bitingly satirical about: (1) Negroes who adopt white values; (2) White firms who employ Negro executives as "tokens" while pretending to have liberal employment policies and (3) Nonviolent demonstrations.

"You ain't never gonna be white," McKissick told laughing members of the audience. "You can fall down on your knees and pray all night to God and you'll still be black when you get up.

"Black people should learn to think and reason as blacks. White people reason as whites. I'm not all hung up on integration. I have a daughter who just got her Master's degree and lives here in Philadelphia. She has been arrested 47 times as the result of participating in supposedly 'non-violent' demonstrations.

Several years ago, I watched my daughter get slapped by a white man in one of those demonstrations, but don't put me to that test today," he said. "I've never in my life seen a truly non-violent demonstration. The term

"So that we can become through Thee .. servants o tall . . ."

non-violent is based on what happens to whites, not to blacks. If a white man gets his foot stepped on during a demonstration, that's violent. If a black man gets beat up, that's non-violent."

McKissick was greeted by laughter from his audience when he lashed out at "black folks who are always talking revolution.

"If you're not talking economics, you aren't saying nothing," he said. "White folks have the atomic bomb, the Navy, the Army and the Marines. Black folks don't have the facilities to produce a sling shot."

15

CONVENTION

ALPHA WORKSHOP

TJD-BITS

Laurence T. Young, General Secretary

GENERAL CONVENTION The 64th Anniversary Convention of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., adjourned August 5, 1970, was the largest and most successful convention in the history of the Fraternity, The formal banquet closing the Convention was addressed

by Brother Norman C. Francis, President of Xavier University, New Orleans, Louisiana, followed by remarks by Brother Dunbar S. McLaurin. The following officers were duly installed for the year 1971: ELECTED OFFICERS Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother

William Decker Clarke James R. Williams Bennie J. Harris Ozell Sutton Thadeus H. Hobbs Leven C. Weiss J. Herbert King

Eastern Vice President Midwestern Vice President Southern Vice President Southwestern Vice President Western Vice President General Treasurer Editor "The Sphinx"

Alpha Hostesses . . . .

Cast eyes of interest

ASSISTANT REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENTS Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother

David L. Wright Eugene Shelton Larry Earvin Delbert DeWitty Fritzic Allen

Eastern Region Midwestern Region Southern Region Southwestern Region Western Region

CONTRIBUTION: It is to be noted that a sum of $850.00 was raised, by means of a free will offering supporting the candidacy of Brother Andrew J. Young for member of Congress, — 5th District — State of Georgia.

ELECTION OF GENERAL PRESIDENT: Duly nominated for the office of General President for 1971-1972 were: ERNEST N. MORIAL (incumbent) GUS T. RIDGEL the election to the office of General President shall be by ballots mailed to each member who was financial as of the first day of the month in which ballots were mailed. Ballots will be mailed from the General Office on October 15, 1970 — returnable December 1, 1970 to a Locked Box — U.S. Post Office, Chicago, 111. Preferential positions — one half for each — as has been the custom in previous years. Brother Jerry L. Martin, is chairman of the Committee on Election.

GROUP LIFE INSURANCE A group life insurance program is now available to our membership. Every Brother who is eligible should enroll in Alpha Phi Alpha Group Life Insurance Program. This is no substitute for your present insurance but affords an opportunity for added insurance at a lo wcost. This program could aid us in increasing the number of active Alphamen and contribute to our finances via the experience rating refund. Additionally, some Brothers might desire to name Alpha Phi Alpha as beneficiary.

16

Brother "Chuck" Lewis Brother Lewis relaxes after making a pitch for R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

$9.8 MILLION OPPORTUNITY HOUSING PROJECT

U. S. Aid to Black Colleges Raised by $30 Million WASHINGTON — The Nixon administration responded on Thursday to complaints that it is insensitive to Negro education by announcing a 30 per cent increase in federal aid for predominantly black colleges.

Welfare Sec. Elliot L. Richardson said in a statement the $30-million increase was ordered by President Nixon after appeals from Negro educators.

AKRON ALPHAS PROPOSED HOUSING UNIT

by Charles Buffum Federal officials have set aside $9,830,800 to back a proposed 551-unit economically integrated housing project in Akron's Opportunity Park urban renewal area.

The project is proposed by Alpha Phi Alpha, a predominately black social fraternity, for a 22-acre site north of Thornton St. and west of S. Main St. Akron councilman Brother James Williams (D-4) head of a special corporation set up by Alpha Phi Alpha to build the housing project, said the federal announcement means the money is available. Now the group must submit detailed plans and cost estimates to get a firm committment, he explained.

T H E FRATERNITY wants federal financing under a 1968 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) program which lets developers build for a 1 pet. interest rate.

The low interest rate will keep project costs low enough to permit rents ranging from $107.82 for one-bedroom units to $153.35 for four-bedroom units, Williams said. In addition, up to 40 pet. of the units are proposed to be rented under a federal subsidy program which could adjust rents for persons with low incomes.

Alpha Phi Alpha proposed to build a 17-story high-rise building, 140 townhouse units and 111 garden apartments.

Brother Williams said the fraternity's goal is to begin construction this Fall, to have some units ready six

months after that and to complete the project in 18 months.

Alpha Phi Alpha attorneys are Edwin Parms and Norman Purnell. Architects for the project are Barbitta & James, and construction would be by Dillon Construction Co. Brother Williams said the FHA "did a tremendous job in expediting this. So did Akron's Planning Department, which helped us tremendously.

"I am confident that with the caliber of the men involved in the fraternity, the reputation of a builder such as Dillon, and the continued cooperation of the city planning department and FHA, that there will be no major problems,' he said.

Brother Williams made the announcement at a press conference at Akron Public Library. Officials attending included Mayor Ballard, city councilmen, James Winter (D-at large), Edward Abdulla (D-at large), Dennis Shaul (Dat large), William Steurer, vice chairman of the Model Neighborhood Commission, and Vern Odom, Urban League director.

Ballard lauded the fraternity for moving on the first major housing development in Opportunity Park. He said providing housing for low and moderate income families was neglected in Akron for "many decades," and added: "At this late date we're finally getting into high gear to catch up."

City Planning Director James Alkire said the project will "meet the objectives of Opportunity Park. I'm quite excited about it."

The National Assn. for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education complained recently that the administration was ignoring the needs of black Americans and their colleges. The association is composed of presidents of predominantly black colleges and universities.

"The present financial plight of many of our small and the overwhelming majority of our predominantly black colleges clearly demonstrates to me that the federal government must strengthen its role in support of equal educational opportunity," Mr. Nixon said in a letter of reply to Dr. Herman R. Branson.

Brother Branson is presently president of Central State University at Wilberforce, Ohio and recently elected president of Lincoln University.

BLACK HISTORY Oct. 27, 1956 — Dr. Charles S. Johnson, educator, sociologist and author, died in Louisville, Ky., at age 63. Dr. Johnson became the first Negro president of Fisk University in 1946 and served until his death. Three U. S. Presidents had assigned jobs to him. In 1931, President Herbert Hoover named him secretary of the Negro housing committee at the conference on home building and ownership. President Franklin D .

Roosevelt named him to his Farm Tenancy Committee, the Dept. and later appointed him a delegate to the nited Nations' Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (NESCO). Dr. Johnson was the author of 18 books and more than 70 articles. His best known book was The Negro College Graduate.

He also wrote Negro In American Civilization, Patterns Of Negro Segregation and Growing Up In The Black Belt.

17

BROTHER McGEE... Mayor of Dayton, Ohio Says "Eliminate the Ghetto"

Brother McGee

My Brothers and friends, the theme of our 64th Anniversary Convention, held here in the historic city of Philadelphia, the birthplace of freedom, is the Elimination of the Ghetto — Goal for the Seventies.

It is fitting and proper that we the members of the first Fraternity, founded by our minority, should as the founding fathers meet here and dedicate ourselves to the task of removing the physical, spiritual and cultural remnants of the ghetto.

The questions then are, how shall we eliminate the ghetto? Shall we burn it down as some suggest? If so, where shall those who make these places their homes live? Shall we build new cities, outside of the present area? If we do, the cost will be prohibitive, and if not by racial discrimination, price discrimination will prevent those who most need these facilities from using them.

How then shall we remove these physical barriers, to the enjoyment of the good life of all citizens of this country?

These questions, perhaps, can't be answered by simple solutions, the answers are complex and need the aid and assistance of the best minds in this country, for their solution.

We who are engaged in local government, are faced daily with demands from our citizens for increased services that are vital and are desperately needed. But, the means of supplying these services is more money and the only place from which we may obtain more money is by more taxes . . . and the poor taxpayer is just about to the hilt. The prospects for the passage of new tax laws, that must be voted upon by the citizens, of a local community, are just about impossible.

18

The taxing authority has been preempted by the Federal Government, giving the Federal Government all of the money, the state laws give all of the power to the state and all of the problems are in the cities. The cities are given the task of solving the problems without the means to accomplish this aim.

We must bring to the attention of Congress and the President, that to abolish hunger, assure better housing, provide employment and minimum incomes, improve transportation, health and education, reduce crime, improve our air, water and open spaces, will require a refocusing of what has been our national commitment. There is no place better to begin this refocusing than in our national budget.

We, the members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, are reminded by our history of the aims of our Fraternity as stated in the preamble of our Constitution, as follows: We, the members of this organization, in order to promote a more perfect union among college men; to aid in and insist upon the personal progress of its members; to further brotherly love and fraternal spirit within the organization; to discountenance evil; to destroy all prejudices; to preserve the sanctity of the home, the personification of virtue and the chastity of women, do enact and establish this Constitution for the government of its members.

Our Founders have stated Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity is a "union among College men," men interested in scholarship, men interested in the pursuit of knowledge; men who because of their desire to learn, have set themselves apart from the average and dedicated themselves to the search for the unknown.

Thus, if as our Founders and Brothers before us have done, we put our will, knowledge and commitment to the solution of the problems of the ghetto, with the aid and assistance of the Brothers and Sisters of the ghetto, we have the means to solve the problem.

In the richest country in the world, no man, woman or child should go to bed at night hungry. We have the tech-

nological capability to produce more food than all the people of the world can consume, but we do not have the ability or commitment to distribute that food to those who need it most. I am sure that most of us will agree, that we must furnish clean, decent and adequate, housing for all our citizens at prices they can afford. And, further, that this housing must not be racially or economically segregated. This housing must be as housing was before the exodus from the cities of those who were able to buy homes in the suburb, people on different economic levels living in the same neighborhoods. It is indefensible that we have not been able to provide employment or minimum incomes to all the people of our country. I say to you, Ladies and Gentlemen, that we can solve these problems and eliminate the ghetto in the seventies if we commit ourselves to this task.

While none of us alone can solve the problems of the ghetto, I am convinced that working together we will find the way. As a beginning, I believe that the President and the Congress must find a solution to the Vietnam Conflict. That we must then focus our attention on poverty and the ghetto in a manner not heretofore conceived. The Federal government must put as much money into the elimination of the ghetto as we have found it necessary to put into the effort to solve the other problems of this Country. Would it not be a step towards the solution of the problem of the ghetto, if the Federal government was committed to making it possible that every man, woman and child in this Country had clean, decent and adequate housing; that every child as soon as he was old enough, was placed in nursery school and taught those things that he could not learn at home; that if the child did not receive proper food at home, that it be furnished to him; that when the child wis ready to commence school, that the motivation that had been supplied during his pre-school years be continued, and that the schools be a place for after-school activity where the children could meet and continue to learn. This I am sure would be a beginning.

(Continued on page 19)

BROTHER McGEE (Continued from page 18 In the elimination of the ghetto, we must eliminate crime and make our streets safe for those who must use the streets. We know that in the past there has been injustice in the administration of justice. It has in many quarters become fashionable to cry "police brutality," and to take the law into our own hands regardless of the provocation.

As a result, police are reluctant to go into many sections of our community and the weak and defenseless are left unprotected from the criminal element.

I, as many of you, was shocked by the senseless killing of two policemen in a Chicago housing project, by three or four young men for no reason. The accounts of the incident being that the officers were in the area at the request of the residents, for a community relations project. Past injustice cannot justify such action, unless we want our neighborhoods to become jangles and justice by vigilantes, the order of the day. Fear has become a constant companion of many of our brothers and sisters who live in the ghetto. And, this climate of fear has caused Congress to enact for the District of Columbia, a law that permits the police to enter homes without knocking and to hold a citizen in prison without bond for up to sixty (60) days at the discretion of the Judge or Magistrate.

My Brothers in Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and Ladies and Gentlemen, I challenge you to accept the responsibility of leadership in the solution of the problem of the ghetto. I further challenge you to solve this problem within the framework of the system.

Our Fraternity admonishes us to "aid in and insist upon the personal progress of our members." We must insist that each of our Brothers reach the maximum of his potential. Therefore, I say to you, that we who have qualified ourselves and know the way, and have abdicated the leadership of our communities to those without the knowledge; those who have not been tested in the crucible of time, trial and experience, must assume our rightful place as leaders, and give direction to our communities and our young people.

We have been taught, "to discontenance evil," among all men; to promote progess and goodwill and in the generic sence, we recognize all men as bro-

thers and join with our brothers for peace and goodwill on earth.

Our aim is "to destroy all prejudice," as Alpha men we recognize all mankind as equal before the law and God, therefore, we cannot be against any man or woman because of race, color, or national origin. We cannot advocate that black is better than white, or white is better than black. We recognize that black demagoguery is the same as white demagoguery and that prejudice destroys and does not afford a climate for progress.

My friends, these are times that make us question whether or not we have the ability to eliminate the ghetto or whether or not we have failed.

These are times of discontent, when our young people condemn us for our failures in not having obtained, in our time, equal rights and opportunities for all.

The social scientists, the engineers of of society have dramatically pointed out that we have not solved the problem of full employment opportunities that are available and for others, we have not found jobs to meet their talents.

They point out that we have failed to excite the imagination of our youth and to cause them to better prepare themselves by education.

We are criticized because we have not yet convinced America that the ghetto pattern in housing is directly responsible for an evil overcrowding in which disease and crime flourish; that in addition to being morally indefensible, the ghetto is economically wasteful.

We have, also, failed to teach our children the importance of history. We have failed to show them that with the tools we have had we have tried in our way to make this a better place in which to live.

I know that youth has become impatient with injustice and history and does not accept, as time and wisdom has taught, that to overcome injustice requires hard work and perserverance.

But, we, the members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, can attest to the fact that by hard work and tenacity, we have grown from a humble beginning of seven founders to over thirty thousand members.

By hard work, many of the members of our group have made outstanding contributions to our country in the Arts,

Medicine, Science, Education and all other fields of endeavor. And by the sweat of our labor, we have helped to build this country. And with our blood and our tears, we have helped to protect it, and make it free and we will fight again to protect it, but we will at the same time, insist that we share according to our ability and be rewarded according to our participation. We cannot expect more — we will not accept less. This is our home, we know no other and must continue to work to gain the same rights and opportunities that have been granted to all other Americans.

We, too, are Americans and are entitled to the same rights and responsibilities as all other Americans. To those who say that we are Black Americans, I say that the Constitution and the laws of this land must be blind to color and the fact that our ancestors came from Africa shall in no way take from us our birthright and our heritage.

I have great faith and confidence in democracy. I believe that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights apply to black men and women, as well as white men and women. If we are to accomplish our desires and aims for the seventies, the elimination of the ghetto, it must be done in the context of the Constitution. The preamble to the Constitution states our aim — to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility — promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.

Our aims are to solve the problems of equal rights and equal opportunities and not to seek vengeance for past wrongs. We must counsel those that would seek vengeance to look to the book of our faith wherein is said, "Vengeance is mine saith the Lord." And we shall not succeed if we seek vengeance instead of justice.

I am confident that the elimination of the ghetto in the seventies can be done. But, the task is great and we must all join hands to accomplish our goal.

The cities are being abandoned to the poor and the black.

Political opportunities, the like of which we have never experienced, are within our grasp. If our people register and vote, we can be represented in the Councils of government — local, state and national. And, I assure you, Ladies and Gentlemen, that this is where the problems of the ghetto will be settled.

(Continued on page 21)

19

-ST

oLjauip to

r\ememb

Brother James H. McGee Receives Oath of Office

Mrs. McGee Receives a Bouquet

DAYTON, Ohio, July 15 — A young reporter from a black weekly asked James H. McGee today to react to a charge by militants that he "does not take a stand" on issues involving the black community.

Unruffled, the 51-year-old lawyer answered calmly, almost sympathetically: "Can they name one issue on which I failed to take a stand? They'll have to be specific because I've never shied away from taking a position." Then he stared hard across his cluttered desk and added; "I am going to work to pull this entire community together."

Mr. McGee's chance to do just that began at 9:16 A.M. today when his right hand was raised in Dayton's City Commission chambers. A black municipal court judge administered the oath that made Mr. McGee the first black Mayor of Dayton.

Dayton, with a population of that includes 70,000 Negroes, fourth largest city in the nation hind Washington, Cleveland and — to have a black Mayor.

"Congratulations and I know that you will be an excellent mayor"

.. .

A Proud and Happy Family 20

People from all walks of life congratulate

the mayor

250,000 is the — beNewark

BROTHER M c G E E . . .

From a Lawyer for N. A. A. C. P. to Mayor of Dayton Once a Militant Mr. McGee, who is considered a moderate, was once regarded as a militant. " 'That militant lawyer,' that's what they used to call me in the early nineteen fifties when I filed civil suits on behalf of the N.A.A.C.P. to end discrimination in bowling alleys, barber shops, restaurants and theatres."

To be designated a moderate is, to Mr. McGee, an odd switch.

"I just happen not to believe in throwing rocks through windows," he said.

What he does believe and practice is to "work within the system because, with all its imperfections, I know of none better."

Mr. McGee reached the Mayor's seat by a circuitous route. His predecessor resigned two months ago for health reasons. Appointment of a new Mayor became the responsibility of the four remaining City Commissioners, including Mr. McGee.

Three commissioners sought the post, but two eventually dropped out, clearing the way for Mr. McGee. Mr. McGee ran second last November in the city-wide race for the commission. While his base of voter strength was on Dayton's predominantly Negro West Side, he received broad support in all sections.

"I say anything that hurts black people hurts white people too." he told the young black reporter today." You can't put whites in a hole of mud without putting black people there too."

One of seven children, James Howell McGee was born Nov. 8, 1918, in Berryburg, W. Va. and raised in Steubenville, Ohio. He began helping his father sweep floors at downtown stores when he was 12. "I haven't been without a job since," he said, "But consider that economic strata, where people had no aspirations, where there was nothing to look up to except steel mills, the grace of God and my mother's gentle and insistent words."

Mr. McGee attended all black Wilberforce University in Ohio, served in the

Army and in 1946 entered law school at Ohio State University, where he finished a three-year course in two years.

As a practicing lawyer, Mr. McGee said, he "starved the first five years, couldn't make $2,000 a year." Then he became known as "that militant lawyer" who would file legal actions then regarded as revolutionary. After the Supreme Court's school desegregation decision in 1954, he filed one of the first test cases involving de facto segregation.

Dayton's problems, similar to those of other middlesized American cities, can be solved, Mayor McGee believes.

"We'd be well on our way to solving the poverty dilemma and others if President Johnson hadn't been sidetracked by the Vietnam war," he said.

The significance of Mayor McGee's appointment was described by Mrs. Miley O. Williamson, Dayton executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"It will be an inspiration to Negro youngsters because they can see if you have the educational qualifications and the background, you can become Mayor of a city."

BROTHER McGEE: Eliminate the Ghetto (Continued from page 19) The power of government, Ladies & Gentlemen, is the ability to place before the people, solutions to their problems.

Our goal — the elimination of the ghetto in the seventies — can be accomplished only through the cooperation of the people with their government.

The ghetto is vast and complex and there is not one among us who can solve the problem alone. But, I am convinced, that as surely as we are promised tomorrow, if we join together and work toward a solution, we will together eliminate the ghetto and contemporary historians will say they have found the way.

For the first time in the history of this Country, our cities have over fifty black Mayors; for the first time, in the Congress of the United States, in State and local government, black men and women are participating in a meaningful manner in the decision making process of this Country. With this participation, we can begin to make the desires, aspirations and needs of our communities known. And, I am confident that once the problems are made known and we put our will to the task, we shall solve our problems.

I have great confidence in the American system as I can give allegiance to no other. Our history, as black people, tells us that we have in other times stood face to face with problems that would have completely destroyed a lesser people, but we have survived. Today, we stand at the doorway of a new day, with a new sense of the great possibilities of tomorrow.

Where, but in America, could black men, from humble beginnings, educated in black schools by black men and women, in the democratic process, have

learned their lessons so well, that in the span of less than a lifetime, they have risen to positions of responsibility and leadership in their government.

I say to you, my young brothers and sisters, our system is not dead, and democracy with all its faults, inconsistencies, and denials, is the best form of government in all the world, for all our people.

We shall correct these faults and inconsistencies, if we join hands and work together for the tomorrow. And, in the seventies, we shall eliminate the ghetto.

And my brothers, lest we forget, we must remember: It matters not how straight the gate How charged with punishment the scroll I am the master of my fate I am the Captain of my soul.

21

WHAT THE HELL DO NIGGERS WANT? JOHN B. MACK, III Black Studies Director Southeast Campus Chicago City College Question: Why black studies?

If it is true that the library is a follower of man's culture, then black men must have a culture, and it should be the library's duty to support that culture. Until our school boards undertake the responsibility of providing much needed black studies curricula at the nursery, kindergarten, elementary, high school, and college levels at public expense, it is necessary that suitable alternatives be pursued. The first community institution which could be of assistance in providing educational materials for black students would naturally be the library.

The aim of this article is to evaluate critically the academic responsibility of white controlled libraries to black studies: What were the forces which produced black studies? Why must it differ from and yet adhere to patterns developed in white curricula? Is there a relationship between the content of black studies and white counterparts?

Has black studies a creative potential?

Does it have an academic sense of mission?

The emergence of the so-called black militant youth insisting upon his rights as a human being is the greatest revolution blacks ever accomplished in these United States. In their attack upon the socioeconomic system which was and is supported by the educational system, black students are justly angry.

This seems a far cry from docility or the "Uncle Tom" attitude, which had been conditioned into their parents by the American social experience. Young blacks are on the offensive rather than the usual defensive. Black youth neither hate nor love their enemies, the former being impractical and the latter impossible. Blacks simply know the enemy, and in this knowledge lies their strength. Sensitive to the need to pull things together, black studies curricula are not motivated by white academic values, but by the cause of black reality.

The greatest black realities are physical and economic; all black experience supports this view. The makers of the white curriculum have forgotten, or 22

they never knew, how difficult it is to make one's way up from a low economic level. It is much too difficult for those behind the white curriculum to understand. They would have to go through it; they would have to be black.

As well as being the greatest revolutionary accomplishment of blacks, which seeks to address itself to all people, black and white, the black studies program has dared to discard the traditional vestiges of the white curriculum in order to find and reveal the spiritual truths of being black. Black studies dares further to reject the academic forms of the white curriculum in order to establish truer forms and presentations — thus eliminating the pure white "myths" which have shackled the minds of black Americans throughout the history of black education in the United States.

"If large segments of our population continue to live under the current disadvantaged conditions, we are establishing a social hell for millions upon millions of children" — Martin Deutsch, April 24, 1963.

Alienation and Minimal Learning — Why? One of the first objectives of learning, over and beyond the pleasure it should give, is that it should serve us in the future. Jerome Bruner said, "Learning should not only take us somewhere; it should allow us later to go further more easily."

Ghetto libraries appear to be mired in white tradition, with white values which are inadequate to the demands of black reality. Many libraries in black schools have outlived their usefulness.

Black studies demands of libraries: Tell the black man's contribution to America. Black studies questions: How do black children view the struggles of black people for power and recognition?.

Libraries need to realize that black students are more race-conscious than they have ever been. Librarians need to know how all children feel about today's race problems. This insight can lead to fruitful understanding and tolerance on the part of those who must be changed and those who must do the changing. Alienation and minimal learning will take place in the library program that does not make the change.

In their search for identity, black Americans developed a new image of themselves, and black studies answers as a new, visible sign of pride in their racial heritage.

"A man who won't die for something is not fit to live."

Martin Luther King, 1961 The discovery of the black self-image represents a breakthrough in education.

The significance of this self-image has been recognized in all other groups, yet there has been little done about it for blacks.

During the past year a loud revolution has been going on in the field of education. New theories and concepts concerning the group self of blacks have come into being. My dream is that new methods and approaches for the total good of American life will grow from this experience.

Understanding the psychology of the group self can mean the difference between success and failure, love and hate, bitterness and happiness.

Discovery of the black somebodiness can rescue a crumbling society, recreate a faltering, hopeless student, and transform victims of personality failure — because of a social experience. In a larger sense, discovering the black group self means the difference between freedom and the compulsions to conform ity.

Book Selection Not everything that is written about blacks is good. You need some responsible guidelines about the relative merits of any book connected with black studies. Since no one is an expert on every aspect of blackness, you cannot expect to evaluate everything that comes into your library. Therefore, you should turn to the professional critics for a wiser point of view. Ideally, they should be able to shed some light on the merits and faults in their critiques.

Book reviews usually give you some reasonable guidance. Please note the following for further help: I. Professional criticism a. Judgement by a good writer b. Judgement by an educated black person c. Judgement by a person trained in the subject or a related area (Continued on page 29)

Appointed Staff Member

Brother Phears to Direct Academic Aid Foundation

Navy Drops Anchor At Alpha Meet

S • Brother Herbert R. Smith

Brother Herbert F. Smith, (Colonel, United States Army), has been designated as the Director of Industrial Operations at the U.S. Army Air Defense Center and Ft. Bliss to succeed Colonel D. V. Schafbuch who retires from the U.S. Army this month.

Colonel Smith has been serving as Director of Services since October, 1968 and prior to that was Ft. Bliss' Deputy for Logistics. Taking over as Chief, Services Division, Director of Industrial Operations, is Colonel Rodney A. Blyth.

Born in August, 1922 at Tucson, Arizona, Colonel Smith graduated from the University of Arizona at Tucson and later attended the University of Maryland.

He entered the Army as an enlisted man in February, 1944, and was commissioned a second lieutenant upon completion of Officer Candidate School at Ft. Lee, Virginia, in November, 1944.

He was promoted to his present rank in 1968.

The colonel served in Germany during World War II with the 1st Infantry Division and is also a veteran of the Korean War. He served as Assistant G-4 officer for the 1st U.S. Army and Director of Logistics for the U.S. Army's Communications Zone in France. He was also the Director of Supply at Ft. Riley, Kansas.

Before coming to Ft. Bliss, Colonel Smith was the commanding officer of the 1st Supply and Transport Battalion of the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam.

Among his awards and decorations, Colonel Smith holds the Army Commendation Medal (third oak leaf cluster), the Air Medal (fourth oak leaf cluster),

^P^

Brother Carl Holmes (Lt. J.Q.

Brother William D. Phears

Brother William D. Phears of Long Island, New York, Deputy Commissioner of Public Works, Town of Hempstead, has been elected a director of the Academic Aid Fund, Inc., a non-profit foundation devoted to increasing enrollment of students in medical colleges, it was announced by Dr. Nathan Lemler, board chairman.

A career engineer and former Air Force squadron commander, Col. Phears has served as an instructor at L. I. University and has been active in civic and community affairs for many years.

The Academic Aid Fund, with headquarters at 123 Grove Ave., Cedarhurst, plans to raise $4 million a year for the next ten years to help increase medical school enrollment and relieve shortage of doctors. the Bronze Star Medal (second oak leaf cluster), Distinguished Flying Cross and the Legion of Merit.

He also holds a Presidential Unit Citation, Meritorious Unit Citation and the Korean Presidential Unit Citation.

Colonel Smith is married to the former Miss Anne L. Eagns of El Paso. They have two children, Captain Herbert F. Smith who is currently serving as Engineer Operations officer in Headquarters, U.S. Army, Vietnam and a daughter, Mrs. Rose Newsome. The Smiths are members of the All Saints Episcopal Church and live at 10020 Lockerbie Avenue, El Paso.

The U.S. Navy is trying hard to overcome its bad image among young blacks, a Washington-based naval officer said.

Lt. J. G. Carl Holmes, a 1966 graduate in political science from the University of Pittsburgh, is a member of the Navy's Minority Information and Counseling Team. While at Pitt, he joined Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He was in Philadelphia to talk to young college graduates about the possibility of a naval career at the Alpha convention at the Sheraton Hotel.

The Alphas sponsored an employment seminar during their convention which attracts scores of young grads and representatives of some of the nation's top business firms, including Uncle Sam.

Rapidly Recuperating

Brother Elmer C. Collins RECUPERATING Brother Collins sends best wishes and thanks to the many brothers who inquired about his health.

23

ALPHAS MOVING . . . UP MOV

Brother June James, III

A Texas Southern University staff member has received a coveted fellowship from the Teaching of Teachers (TTT) program to work toward the doctorate degree at the University of Miami at Coral Gables, Florida.

Brother June James, III, Assistant Professor in the Department of Secondary Education at TSU, has been notified that he has been selected for the fellowship. Brother James will begin his studies early this fall.

The TTT program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

Recruitment for the TTT program is under National Selection. Participants should possess at least a master's degree and hold one of the professional ranks in an undergraduate university or college involved in teacher preparation. If the participant does not hold such a rank, written assurance from his Dean must indicate that he will possess such a rank on completion of the Triple "T" Program. The participant should, if he plans to complete the program, acquire the doctoral degree as an Educational Specialist with emphasis on "Human Behavior, The Disciplines and The Learning Process."

Brother June James, III is a native of Shreveport, Louisiana, where he attended Ingersoll Elementary, Central Junior High and Booker T. Washington Senior High schools. He received the Bachelor of Science and Master of Education degrees from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He has taught at Bethune High School in Welsh, Louisiana and Paseo High School in Kansas 24

Brother Phil Brother Gerald E. Thomas, (Commander U.S.N.)

Brother Gerald E. Thomas, Commander of U. S. Navy, and a member of Epsilon Tau Lambda Chapter in Prairie View, Texas, recently completed a two year assignment as commanding officer of the Naval Reserve officers Training Corps at Prairie View A&M College. He leaves this historic assignment to accomplish what is probably another first in his distinguished career.

Brother Thomas will begin a doctorial program in International Relations at Yale University this fall.

Brother Thomas was the first Negro to command a Naval ROCT Unit. The unit at Prairie View was established May 19, 1968, and was the first such unit to be commissioned by the Navy in 22 years. It was also the first such Unit to be established at a Predominantly Negro college. Through Commander Thomas' dynamic leadership the unit commissioned its first group of Naval and Marine Corps officers on May 17, 1970.

Thirteen officers received their commissions from Secretary of the Navy John H. Chafee, who was the commencement Speaker.

Brother Thomas has held several key positions in the past. Prior to coming City, Missouri. He has also served with the Department of Continuing Education at the University of Missouri at Kansas City.

Brother James is a member of numerous professional and civic organizations.

He is married to the former Janie Spears.

They are parents of four sons.

T. McCoy

Brother Phil T. McCoy has joined Eli Lilly and Company as a sales representative in Washington, D.C., announces Durwood J. Thevenote, manager of the firm's Washington district.

Born in New Bern, North Carolina, McCoy was graduated from J. T. Barber High School there. In 1965 he received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Elizabeth City State University, and he has done graduate work at Howard University.

Prior to joining the Lilly firm, Brother McCoy was employed by Melpar Inc., Falls Church, Virginia.

He lives at 2615 Bowen Road, S. E., Washington. to Prairie View he was commanding officer of the USS BAUSELL (DD-945) a destroyer which saw duty in Vietnam waters. The Commander also served as commanding officer of the USS IMPERVIOUS (MSO-449) a minesweeper.

In 1857, Brother Thomas attended the Russian Language course at U. S. Naval language School, Anacostia. He qualified as a Russian interpreter, and was assigned to the National Security Agency of Fort Meade, Maryland.

Brother Thomas was born June 23, 1929 in Natick, Massachusetts. He received his undergraduate degree at Harvard University and was commissioned through the NROTC program in June, 1951. In September, 1966 he received the degree of Master of science in International Affairs from George Washington University. He also completed the Command and Staff curriculum at the Naval War College.

A P O R T R A I T . . . Brother Paul Robeson Presented to Rutgers University

25

BROTHER PAUL ROBESON...

Honored by Alpha Eastern Region and Rutgers University in most libraries either omit facts or falsify them. Newsreel footage on Paul Robeson in the United States have been confiscated and is not available even to educational TV stations.

Thanks

The record clearly shows that this is so because my father challenged the racism of this country to its foundations, because he attacked its social and cultural roots openly before the whole world, and because he refused to let his personal success explain away the injustices to millions of his people. It is so because the pride he has given to Black Americans by his brilliant successes is inseparably linked to his dignity, courage and uncompromising stand as a man. It is precisely this central aspect of the Paul Robeson story that is most thoroughly and deliberately hidden.

Paul Robeson, Jr. expresses his father's

appreciation

It is a great pleasure for me to be with you today.

This is my first visit to the Rutgers campus, and it is of great personal interest to me to see the place where my father began his long list of accomplishments, and where his future career was partly shaped.

I wish to express my father's appreciation to his Alpha Phi Alpha brothers of the Eastern Region and to the Rutgers Student Center Board for making this occasion possible; to President Gross, and to all of the participants in the program. He has asked me to convey to all of you here his sincerest regrets that his health prevents him from being with you today.

The previous speakers have spoken eloquently of my father's achievements. I shall only say a few words to help place the achievements in a historical context.

This event today is significant because for many years, those who run this country and most of the media, have attempted to blot out the truth about Paul Robeson. Even here at Rutgers, not so many years ago, Paul Robeson was an "unperson". His trophies were removed from the display cases, and his name was unmentionable. It is especially fitting, then, that the curtain of silence is being drawn further aside by this tribute.

Times have changed, but much of the truth still remains hidden, distorted and suppressed. The books you can buy in the bookstores, and the reference material you can find 26

Some mythology even tends to spring up concerning my fathers' years at Rutgers. It is certainly true that my father has always recalled his years at Rutgers in a positive context. He always speaks with great warmth of Foster Sanford, his football coach, as well of friendships with fellow students and professors that lasted for years after his graduation. However, there were struggles and hardships too — it could not have been otherwise, since he was one of only two black students on campus throughout his four years, and race relations in the United States were considerably less than idyllic in the years 1915 through 1919. It gives me pause then, when a distinguished Rutgers alumnus who attended the University with my father writes him as follows: "It was in keeping with your modesty that you declined membership in any fraternity, even though many honors were heaped upon you . . . I recall, too, that you refused to play against some Sounthern teams because it might do the Scarlet more harm than good. These recollections, plus many others are a part of an article I have written."

Now, there is no need to push history around that much, even though the intentions might be good.

I will only mention a few facts, which speak for themselves. Because of the discrimination that existed on campus at that time, my father could not join any fraternity. In fact, he was not welcome to participate in the Glee Club.

Coach Sanford had to call a special meeting of the football team to convince the varsity players to allow my father to try out for the team. My father made the team after surviving some very brutal treatment, in what was one of the greatest achievements of his entire life. In 1916, When he was an established star, Rutgers played Washington and Lee University of Virginia; it was the main event of the celebration of the Rutgers centennial. My father was withdrawn from the lineup by the Rutgers administration at the formal request of Washington and Lee. A heavily favored Rutgers team was held to a 13-13 tie. In the Rutgers library you will find a letter from a distinguished Rutgers alumnus protesting this action.

(Continued on page 28)

The Artist and Eastern Vice President

President of Rutgers

"Our thanks to you," Brother W. Decker Clark, Eastern Region Vice President said to Al Hollingsworth (Artist)

THE RUTGER SINGERS

Mm fc'-W

\ -\By lA Brother Hoggard and members of the Eastern Region applaud the speaker, Paul Robeso^ Jr Photographs By Eliot Hess

tM •MM Brothers Mai Goode and J. Clinton Hoggard

27

PAUL ROBESON, JR. (Continued from page 28)

THETA PSI—LAMBDA

CHAPTER

Since such a commendable beginning has been made here at Rutgers toward setting the historical record straight, I would like to take this opportunity to say that I would be happy to provide information to the University on how to obtain accurate and comprehensive source material on all aspects of my father's public life. Mr. Lloyd Brown who collaborated with my father on his book "Here I Stand" will also be glad to be of help to the University in this matter. There is an evident need for this, because current biographical material being used by Rutgers suffers heavily from the usual misconceptions. Where these have come to my attention, the University has promptly and graciously replied to my letters pointing out specific errors, and has corrected or deleted the errors in subsequnt material. Two major items must be mentioned.

The official program of the Rutgers-Cornell football game celebrating the centennial year of football honors my father as a Rutgers All-American for the year 1918 only.

The record shows that Paul Robenson is listed on Walter Camp's first string All-American team for two straight years, 1917 and 1918, and on the first teams of the other major All-American selectors for both years. It is in 1917 that Paul Robeson was the first All-American in Rutgers history, and that Walter Camp singled him out with the most individual praise accorded any college player.

It is no small point which is involved here. To my knowledge there is no football player who made Walter Camp's All-American team for two years who is not now in the Hall of Fame, with one exception, Paul Robeson, and ironically enough, the Hall of Fame is located here at Rutgers. Walter Camp said, in choosing Robeson in 1918: "There never has been a more serviceable end, both in attack and defense, than Robeson."

The question must be asked squarely then: Why is Paul Robeson not in the Hall of Fame? Is it because his football achievements do not merit this recognition, or is it because of a combination of political and racial reason? The answer to that question is in the record — it just needs to be read.

28

The other item appeared in a recent biographical sketch released by Rutgers and deals with my fathers controversial political views. I mention it not to engage in any political discourse, but to make the point that if controversial issues are to be mentioned, then the facts must be given correctly.

The item read: . . . "He (Robeson) declared he would spend the remainder of his life in Russia for he believed the Soviet Union is the bulwark of civilization against both war and fascism'".

The record shows that when my father first visited Russia, he said: "Here for the first time in my life, I walk in full human dignity. You cannot imagine what that means to me as a Negro."

And in answer to American critics who suggested that because he had praised Russia he should leave the United States and live in Russia, he said: "My father was a slave and my people died to build this country, and I am going to stay here and have a part of it just like you. And no fascist minded people will drive me from it. Is that clear?"

This point is vital, because it is directly related to the biggest single factor that produced the most hysterical reaction of the establishment against Paul Robeson — a remark he made in Paris at a world peace conference in 1949.

He said: "It is unthinkable that American Negroes could go to war on behalf of those who have oppressed us for generations against the Soviet Union which in one generation has raised our people to full human dignity."

In the Rutgers library you will find a letter from a white Rutgers alumnus which in the most strident racist tones calls for Paul Robeson's execution in the electric chair for the remark I have just quoted. It was in this atmosphere that the campaign to silence my father was launched — a campaign that resulted in the confiscation of his passport for eight years.

There are those who seek to lessen Paul Robeson's stature by creating the false image of a tragic, misled figure, victimized by the times. Nothing could be further from the truth. Paul Robeson was way ahead of his time — a trailblazer. He knew full well the price he would have to pay and he paid it — unbowed and unflinching. There is sadness now in the fact today he is in retirement and in poor health. But he can rejoice in the countless others who march along the broad trail he blazed.

He bore the burden in the heart of the day, he survived the fiercest repression and he remained unvanquished — in this there is majestic triumph.

It has been a pleasure and an honor to participate in this program. Once again I would like to thank all those who have participated in this tribute. Its timing is especially appropriate because my father's 72nd birthday is only a few days from now.

Today, as we honor this great man, and the cries for freedom, equality and a share of power are coming from countless thousands of throats, it is appropriate to recall the words of a song he often sang: "Never say that you have reached the very end, When leaden skies a bitter future may ported; For sure the hour for which we yearn will yet arrive, And our marching steps will thunder, We Survive."

BLACK STUDIES (Continued from page 22) II. Check new publications in your professional magazines a. Get publication materials from publishing houses b. Seek help from the library departments of black organizations such as the NAACP or the Urban League.

Finally, most publishing houses will send upon request a guide to the black book selections. All the information that might be needed about each book is given, including the price.

Exploring The Library's Function in Black Studies If we don't learn from history we are doomed to repeat it, and that is exactly the lesson of our racist society as it is supported by its racist institutions. It should be said that institutional racism is indeed a fact of American life. One might ask, "What the hell do niggers want?" The answer is simple — control. Whites may help, but controlling power and decision-making positions must be performed by blacks.

Thus far in our discussion, we have emphasized the historical sources of our institutions' problems, and now we are going to relate the library to this concern. Basic to the effective collecting of information and library tools, with groups or individuals, is the power to control the operation. A library of accurate and up-to-date informational materials, attractively displayed, conveniently arranged, and adequately publicized is a valid consideration only after you have provided a staff representative of the people in whose interest you are making the collection. That is, how can you have a black studies library without black people making decisions about what is relevant?

Since the very beginning of the black studies development as an academic area, published materials for helping black youths make better vocational, educational, and personal-social choices and adjustments have multiplied in number and variety. If these materials are to be used effectively by students and staff, a system must be employed to get quali-

fied blacks into decision-making positions for selecting, organizing, and presenting the more relevant materials. The largest collection of information is of Lttie value unless knowledgeable decisions are instituted from the outset.

Otherwise, much material will not relate to the "impossible truth" of the black experience.

The success or failure of "black studies and the library," like that of any other venture, will depend to a great extent on the staff selected to establish or to supervise the activity.

What part can whites play in a black studies library program? Black people, as I stated earlier, will lead the challenge to old values and educational norms, but whites who recognize the need must also work to promote and support black efforts. They must get within the personnel structure and help perform the desired educative functions. On a broader scale, there is a most important function whites can serve, which is to reorient the total white society's attitudes and policies toward black studies, and to push its positive aspects toward that groups' efforts to become "somebodies."

To sum up this part of the discussion, the following steps are suggested for building a library: I. Decide to find a qualified black person who can take the responsibility for setting up basic policies for the black studies library or library section. A guidance committee? (Blacks with withs.)

II. Prepare an inventory of existing materials in the library or black studies section. In some schools materials will be found in every department. A comprehensive listing of all source materials should be made. Most of them should be stored in one place; however, in some cases it may be more desirable for teachers to retain certain subject matter concerning black studies.

Films Records Flash cards Magazines Art (paintings, sculptures, etc.)

III. Study the needs of the present student body.

Are there specific needs which should be met?

What are their occupational choices?

What are their plans for educational training?

What are their personal-social interests and needs?

IV. Decide on minimum materials for each phase of the library. As student needs warrant and funds become available, additional materials should be added.

V. Submit a tentative budgetary plan including initial costs for basic items and also the amounts considered necessary for yearly expenditures. Apportion the yearly budget so that some money is available each month to purchase recently published materials.

VI. Select an appropriate plan for storing the materials — bound and unbound.

VII. Decide who will take the responsibility for ordering the materials. Will clerical assistance be provided? Will the students assist?

VIII. Decide on the mechanics for using the material. Can they be checked out overnight? If so, have special forms prepared to facilitate this process.

IX. Set up some means for publicizing the library to students as well as to the community.

X. Establish a plan whereby materials can be reviewed periodically at least once a year.

XI. Prepare a plan whereby requests for materials which are not available can be recorded and then taken into consideration when ordering additional materials.

XII. Prepare means for continuously studying whether the library meets the needs of the black studies curriculum, and whether it also meets the needs of the school and community environment.

"We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society. We want education that teaches us our true history and our role in present-day society.'

Black

Panther Party Platform October 1966 29

Brother Gus T. Ridgel for General P r e s i d e n t . . .

Editor's Note: Material for this page submitted by "Gus T. Ridgel Committee for President" er and member, Board of Directors, ColNOMINEE Ridgel for President lege Park Development Corporation, Brother Gus T. Ridgel is an economist Frankfort, Kentucky; President and and educator, Professor and Head of Member, Board of Directors, Prince Hall the Department of Business and EconoVillage, Inc., Frankfort, Kentucky (One mics, Kentucky State College. and a half million-dollar housing development).

Education From Valedictorian of his high school Other Activities class at Poplar Bluff, Missouri, in 1942; to (Magna Cum Laude) Bachelor of These various pursuits of our Alpha Science degree, Lincoln University of Brother are: Elected Faculty RepresenMissouri, in 1950; to Master of Arts detative on Board of Regents of Kentucky gree, University of Missouri, in 1951 State College; member of Regional se(Was "Test Case" and the first Negro lection Committee on Danforth Assoadmitted to, and first to receive a degree ciate Program (Danforth Foundation); from the University of Missouri, received member of Governor's Efficiency Task Alpha Phi Alpha Scholarship); to his Force; President of Kentucky State ConBrother Gus T. Ridgel Doctor of Philosophy degree, University ference of the American Association of of Wisconsin, 1957 (Major — EconoUniversity Professors; member of ComGeneral Electric Foundation Fellowship, mics; Minor — Law; Secondary Field mission on Colleges of Southern Associa1967 — having pursued these studies m — Agricultural Economics). tion of Schools and Colleges. during the summer sessions, as of 1958 henceforth.

Additional Study Brother Ridgel's following educational Dear Brother: Record as an Alpha-man pursuits, also include: University of The fraternal activities of Brother You were mailed your ballot for Pennsylvania, School of South Asian Ridgel are: Initiated, Alpha Psi, Lincoln voting for General President of Alpha Studies, in 1954-55; Duke University, University, Jefferson City, Missouri in Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. for the term 1958; University of Wisconsin, 1960; 1947; Secretary of Alpha Psi; Active beginning January 1, 1971 and ending University of Chicago, 1961; University with Gamma Sigma Lambda, Fort ValDecember 31, 1972. of Indiana, 1962; University of Chicago, ley, Georgia, and served as Secretary; The right to vote is sacred and fun1967 — having pursued these various Active with Gamma Upsilon Lambda, damental.

Men have fought and died studies as summer endeavors after 1955.

Marshall, Texas, and served as Secreto obtain and protect this cherished Professional Experience tary; now active with Gamma Beta right. Many of our brothers are countAs Head, Department of Business, Lambda, Frankfort, Kentucky, and has ed among those who have led the efFort Valley State College, during 1951served as President, Secretary and Treafort to secure the franchise.

1958, he was also Visiting Professor, surer; has served as Faculty Advisor to For many years, an effort has been Tata Institute of Social Sciences, BomBeta Mu Chapter (Kentucky State Colunderway to return the election of the bay, India, in 1955-1956; other stateside lege) since 1960; served as member of General President of Alpha Phi Alpha experiences include: Dean of Administhe Constitution Committee and numerFraternity to the floor of the Conventration, Wiley College, from 1958-1960; ous Convention Committees. tion, primarily because of the small to the aforementioned Professorship and Other fraternal activities include: percentage of ballots that are returned.

Head, Department of Business and Named as "Most Outstanding UnderYou must prove that universal sufEconomics, Kentucky State College, from graduate Brother" at National Convenfrage in Alpha Phi Alpha is the best 1960 to current date. tion in 1950; former Comptroller and method to assure the selection of a Being the recipient of several fellowChairman of Budget Committee from General President who is dedicated ships, Brother Ridgel includes: John Hay 1965-1968; Past Regional Director of and representative of the Fraternity.

Whitney Opportunity Fellowship in Midwestern Region; served as member CAST YOUR BALLOT TODAY 1952-1953, as well as in 1953-54; (Was of Education Committee; member of AND PROMPTLY RETURN IT IN awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in 1954, Building Foundation; Midwestern ViceTHE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE PRObut declined it to accept the Ford FounPresident, in 1967-1970; Life Member VIDED FOR THAT PURPOSE. dation Fellowship); Ford Foundation of the Fraternity.

BE SURE TO FOLLOW INStudy and Research Fellowship during STRUCTIONS PRINTED ON THE Community Activities 1954-1955, as well as 1955-1956; Ford VOTING MATERIALS. The civic interests of Brother Ridgel Foundation Economics Faculty FellowFraternally yours include his church affiliation as a memship in 1958; Economics-in-Action FelJERRY L. MARTIN, Chairman ber, First Baptist Church, Frankfort, lowship, University of Wisconsin, in THE COMMITTEE ON Kentucky; secretary and member, Board 1960; General Electric Foundation FelELECTIONS of Directors, Service Loan Company, lowship, in 1961; Ford Foundation FelLexington, Kentucky; secretary-treasurlowship, Indiana University, in 1962; 30

Brother Ernest "Dutch" Morial for General President...

Editor's Note: Material for this page submitted by "Ernest 'Dutch' Morial for President Committee"

Morial for President Brother Ernest N. "Dutch" Morial, A FIRST to be elected to the State of Louisiana's Legislature as a member of House of Representatives; A FIRSA to serve in the U.S. Attorney General's office in the State of Louisiana, serving as Assistant U.S. Attorney, in 196567; A FIRST to graduate from the Louisiana State University Law School, in 1954. He was born on October 9, 1929, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Education Being a product of the parochial and public schools of New Orleans, Brother Morial received his B.S. in Business Administration, Xavier Unversity of Louisiana, in 1951; his LL.B. from Louisiana State University Law School, in 1954.

Military Being in the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps, Brother Morial attended U.S. Army Intelligence School at Fort Holabird, Maryland.

Alpha Activities As Life Member No. 102, Brother Morial's fraternal interests include: Former Member of the Board of Directors, Alpha Phi Alpha Bldg. Foundation, Inc.; Former General Counsel; Former Chairman, Credentials Committee; Former Treasurer, Beta Tau Chapter; Former President, Sigma Lambda Chapter.

ALPHA PHI ALPHA again became relevant to the problems confronting America's urban communities.

ALPHA is restored to its position of prominence as an organization dedicated to "manly deeds, scholarship and love for all mankind."

Brother Morial consistently presented programs for broadening the effectiveness of the General Office and for extending the role and outreach of "THE SPHINX" — BOLD INVOLVEMENT IN THE CIVIC AND EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES OF YOUR COMMUNITIES.

Brother Ernest "Dutch"

Morial

Occupation Brother Morial first gained national prominence when he was elected to the Louisiana State Legislature as a member of the House of Representatives; the first black man to be elected to the House since the Reconstruction.

Professional Memberships.

His legal organizations consist of: Louisiana State Bar Association, American Bar Association, National Bar Association, Southwest Bar Association, St. Thomas More Catholic Lawyers' Association, Louis A. Martinet Legal Society, Law Library Association, Inc., New Orleans Notaries' Association, Catholic

Press Association, American Trial Lawyers' Association, Federal Bar Association.

Civic Activities A wide range of Brother Morial's civic interests include: NAACP; Urban League; Co-ordinating Council of Greater New Orleans; Community Relations Council; Agency Committee, United Fund of Greater New Orleans; Board of Directors, TCA, Inc.; President, New Orleans Legal Assistance Corporation; Board of Directors, New Orleans Legal Aid Bureau; General Counsel, Standard Life Insurance Co. of Louisiana, Inc.; Treasurer-Counsel, Autocrat Finance Co.; Director, Mortgage Loan Department; Knights of Peter Claver; Legal Advisor, Louisiana State Association of Elks; NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Cooperating Attorney.

Fraternal Memberships Knights of Peter Claver, International Brotherhood Protective Order of Elks of the World, Knights of Columbus, and Frontiers International are his fraternal endeavors.

Past Activities His previous activities consist of: Past member of the Board of Directors of the Urban League of Greater New Orleans; Past Treasurer, Community Relations Council; Past Editor, The Claverite, Official Organ of the Knights of Peter Claver; Former Chairman, Voter Education Committee, Co-ordinating Council of Greater New Orleans; Past President, New Orleans B r a n c h , NAACP; Former Instructor of Business Administration, Xavier University; Former Instructor, Distributive Education, Orleans Parish Public Schools.

Achievements In 1965-67, Brother Morial's achievements included: Assistant U.S. Attorney; Member of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights under Law organized by the late President John F. Kennedy; Appeared in "Outstanding Young Men of America," in 1965; Appeared in "Who's Who in the South and Southwest," in 1967-68; Admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, Louisiana Supreme Court, U.S. District Court, U.S. Court of Appeals; Member Louisiana Commission of Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice.

31

BLACK STUDIES (Continued from page 29) An early start is basic to success in any subject area, but too many black studies library programs are started without sufficient funds, materials, or desire to do the job in terms of a longrange quality presentation. Now is an opportune time for librarians, teachers, and educators at all levels to look at the problem and think of suitable alternatives in each of their individual institutions. Only through this kind of approach can we create the ambitious achievements which are necessary. We are charged to bring into being a new field that has still to prove itself.

We are not going to condone lowered academic standards for black studies, nor allow others to cloud the issue by comparing us too soon to broader and older academic areas.

"You are either a victim or a rebel.'

Richard Wright "The cornerstones of the country's operation are economic and political strength and power. The black man does not have the economic strength and it will take time for him to build it. But right now the American black man has the political strength and power to change his destiny overnight."

Malcolm X, 1965.

Conclusion From early times the different cultures of man have had an instinctive desire to record their thoughts and deeds. Black studies, with library support, will be able to bring together the memories of the black race: scientists, historians, poets, philosophers, and others who have interest in the field of black studies will be our pillars of pride.

Through the field of black studies the library will be able to take the young student into a world of black charm and dignity — a new adventure in learning.

History plays a great part in the growth of a people. The white man took away our history because it was necessary for him to control us. Without group identity, we had no identity; we were separated from our past in order to make it easier for others to control us in the present. However, it is one 32

Policies for Loans and Grants In order that a standard procedure in planning for loans, grants or leases be established, the following directive is effective as of this date: A fraternal group desiring aid should send a written request to the Chairman, Secretary, or Assistant Secretary of the Building Foundation to obtain an application and standards form. These forms are also available through the Regional Vice-Presidents.

This application form is to be filled out completely considering all details (undergraduate groups should pay particular attention to the requirement for graduate sponsorship where substantial sums are involved).

The completed application for his approval and transmittal to the Chairman of the Applications Committee, Brother James L. Hunt, 3435 Harding Blvd., Baton Rouge, La. 70813.

All applications from college chapters must be approved by the Chairman for College Chapter, Applications, Brother Robert L. Jones, Jr., 2348 B. Ainger Place, S. E. Washington, D.C. 20020.

After proper consideration, the Application Committee will report the application with its recommendation to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Building Foundation for consideration and proper action.

Please be guided by this directive in the future.

William M. Alexander, Chairman Board of Directors Laurence T. Young, Secretary ALPHA PHI ALPHA BUILDING FOUNDATION. INC.

thing to be born as slaves and another to keep a slave mentality when slavery is over. We need pride and dignity.

Knowing that we are part of a great culture will be an asset.

Anthropologists say that mankind originated in Africa. We are descendants of those proud African people who carved out the great civilizations of Kush, Songhai, Ghana, and Mali. Our ancestors smelted iron; we mined copper and gold. For us to know this is to know that we can look toward survival, and greater destiny.

Television Producer

Brother

Curtis

O. Peters

CHARLOTTE, N. C. — Bro. Curtis O. Peters, Director of University Relations for Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina, was instrumental in creating and producing a series of eleven 30-minute television programs entitled "Aware."

The series was carried by television station WBTV (Channel 3) each Sunday from June 20 to September 6. "Aware" focused on the varied programs at Johnson C. Smith as well as black educational programs in progress across the nation.

The series illustrates the willingness of the business community and the television media to promote the growth and progress of Johnson C. Smith University.

A native of Orange, New Jersey and an honor graduate of Johnson C. Smith University in 1967, Bro. Peters has been affiliated with the University since his graduation. He also received a Ford Foundation Development Internship at Fordham University. He has been the Director of University Relations since July 1 of this year.

Brother Peters and his wife, the former Jacquelynne Newsom of Atlanta, a graduate of Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, are expecting their first child in December.

Brother Peters is an active member of Beta Nu Lambda.

WE HAVE

upliftin SOLUTIONS TO EVERYDA Y PROBLEMS. In this instance, we've just removed a traffic-snarling casualty from a crowded expressway. Now, we'll concede that this might be considered a relatively modest contribution towards improving the human environment.

But. . . this same Sikorsky® helicopter could have been effecting a rescue mission off a wallowing tanker in a North Sea gale. It could have been airlifting food and supplies to starving villagers in flood-ravaged Tunisia . . . or transporting equipment for on-the-spot control of off-shore oil pollution.

Obviously, what we're pointing out is the impressive record and adaptability of our helicopters in solving important human problems.

There's much more to come in our world of exciting, advanced VTOL aircraft systems. For example, Heavy-Lift Skycranes® and Tilt-Rotor Transports. And just around the corner are our High-Speed Commercial Transports—designed to ease short-haul mass-transportation headaches.

Does this kind of engineering attitude stir your sense of responsibility and imagination? Then you should talk careers with us. There's ample opportunity for innovation in: aerodynamics • human factors engineering • automatic controls • structures engineering • weight prediction • systems analysis • operations research • reliability/ maintainability engineering • autonavigation systems • computer technology . . . and more.

And your career advancement can be accelerated through our corporation-financed Graduate Study Programs—available at many outstanding schools within our area.

Consult your College Placement Office for campus interview dates—or—write to Mr. Leo J. Shalvoy, Professional and Technical Employment.

Sikorsky Aircraft u DIVISION OF UNITED AIRCRAFT CORPORATION

STRATFORD, CONNECTICUT 06602 An Equal Opportunity Employer

The Sphinx 4432 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive Chicago, Illinois 60653 Return Requested

your housing rights Racial discrimination in the sale or rental of all housing is now illegal under a recent Supreme Court decision upholding an 1866 Act of Congress.* You can he helped if because of your race, any of these things happened: • You were denied the opportunity to buy or rent a house or apartment.

• You were told a house or an apartment wasn't available when it really was.

• You were offered different terms or conditions of sale or rental than someone else.

You can —

t a k e your complaint directly to court • You can immediately file a suit in a Federal Court.

You may wish to consult an attorney or local Legal Aid Society for assistance.

• The Court could stop the sale of the house or the rental of an apartment to someone else. It could help make it possible to buy or rent the housing you want. It could award you damages and court costs or take other actions that could help you.

Or else you can —

call on the federal government for help Under the Civil Rights Act of 1968,t it is illegal to discriminate in the sale or rental of most houses or apartments because of race, color, religion, or national origin. This law calls for action by the Federal Government.

If you have been discriminated against, you can go directly to Court. But at any time within 180 days of the incident you can also do this: Send a Camplaint to the Department ef Hawing and Urban Development

Address:

FAIR HOUSING WASHINGTON, D.C. 20410

— and simply tell what happened.

This Federal Department may do these things: • Investigate to see if the law has been broken.

• Contact the person accused of the violation and try to get him to end the discrimination.

• Refer your complaint to a State or local Human Rights Commission, if there is one where you live, for investigation and possible resolution.

• Recommend you go to court.

(The nearest HUD Regional Office will be glad to assist you in preparing your complaint. The addresses are on the back of this folder. The nearest FHA office will also assist. There are 76 offices throughout the Nation. Try your telephone book if you live in a large city under: Federal Housing Administration.) * 42USCS1982 — Civil Right* Act of 1866 t 42USC§3601 — Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968