baton
THURSDAY, February 14, 2013
Dillard President Walter M. Kimbrough Named to “The Rio’s 100” List of Black History Makers
Walter M. Kimbrough
NEW ORLEANS, LA - Walter M. Kimbrough, president of Dillard University, joins 99 other African American history makers and industry leaders who are being honored during Black History Month by NBC’s theGrio. com. The list was announced this morning on the “Today” show on NBC News. This is the fourth year that NBC’s the Grio.com has recognized African American industry leaders who are making a difference in the lives of others in their communities and beyond. Honorees are selected from various categories including activism, arts, business, education, health, media, politics, science and technology, pop culture and sports. Kimbrough is the only university president recognized. He joins other nationally known figures such as Susan Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; Robin Roberts, co-host of “Good Morning America”; and Michael Strahan, former New York Giants defensive end and co-host of “Live! With Kelly and Michael,” to name a few. Kimbrough, who is among the youngest college presidents in the nation, is known for his active use of social media to engage and stay connected with students. With just seven months at Dillard’s helm, he has already begun making strides in the New Orleans community and providing thought leadership at Dillard by bringing high-profile speakers to campus such as Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, and Tavis Smiley and Cornel West. Both events drew standing-room only audiences from New Orleans and surrounding communities. In addition to his latest recognition, Kimbrough has received numerous honors and awards. He recently made the New Orleans Magazine list of the top 25 People to Watch in 2012. And in 2010, he See history maker, on page 2
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Vol. 37 • No. 32 • FREE
a people’s publication
State Senator Broome The 1953 Baton Rouge Bus Boycott Sets Citizens Meetings Published: September 15, 2009 Signpost To Freedom
A One-Hour Documentary That Recounts The Circumstances And Events That Led To The Nation’s First Large-Scale Boycott
“Signpost to Freedom: The 1953 Baton Rouge Bus Boycott” is a one hour documentary that recounts the circumstances and events that led to the nation’s first large-scale boycott protesting segregation and then examines its impact on the evolution of grassroots civil rights activism across the country during the early years of America’s Civil Rights Movement. In 1953, lead by a handful of determined young men and women, the African American citizens of Louisiana’s capital city led a quiet revolt. Nearly three years before the famous bus boycott in Montgomery paralyzed that city and captured national attention, the African American citizens of Baton Rouge organized the nation’s first large-scale boycott challenging segregation. The city’s black residents pulled together in solidarity to make the boycott effective, organizing an intricate carpool system. In just eight days they brought the city’s bus system to its knees. This boycott would become a defining moment in the birth of America ’s struggle over civil rights. In years to come, lessons about the boycott’s successes and failures would provide momentum for the social revolution igniting throughout the South. Until recently, historians have largely overlooked this compelling story. Yet, the boycott’s influence on later events in the nation’s civil rights movement is indisputable: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote in his book Stride Toward Freedom, that a detailed “description of the Baton Rouge experience was invaluable” in the early stages of the Montgomery boycott. Rosa Parks’ biographer and Signpost scholar Douglas Brinkley says Mrs. Parks and other NAACP activists throughout the South monitored the developments in the Baton Rouge boycott very closely at the time. According to internationally known civil rights historian and Signpost advisor Dr. Adam Fairclough, “the Baton Rouge protest pioneered many of the techniques that became standard practice in the civil rights movement of the late 1950s and 1960s: mass non-violent protest, the leadership of Baptist ministers and the foundation of alternative transportation systems.” In an effort to bring this remarkable, untold story to millions of Americans, Signpost features interviews with eminent civil rights scholars and the personal stories of the
Closing of Anna T. Jordan’s Swimming Pool
A mostly empty Baton Rouge city bus pulls up to an empty bus stop at the start of the June 20, 1953, bus boycott.
State Senator Sharon Weston Broome will hold a series of community meetings in the Senate District 15 area prior to the 2013 Regular Legislative Session. Senator Broome will highlight legislative issues her priorities for the upcoming session. Representatives from the Department of Revenue, the Department of Insurance Consumer Advocacy Division, and BRCC Continuing Education Division, as well as many other community leaders, have been invited to attend. Senator Broome urges citizens in the area to take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about important state issues. COMMUNITY MEETINGS • Monday, February 18th 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Baker Branch Library 3501 Groom Road Baker, LA • Tuesday, March 5th 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Zachary Branch Library 1900 Church Street Zachary, LA Monday, March 11th
State Senator Sharon Weston Broome
6:30 - 8:00 p.m. LSU Medical Clinic Community Room 5445 Airline Highway Baton Rouge, LA • Tuesday March 19th 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Greenwell Springs Library 11300 Greenwell Springs Road Baton Rouge, LA If you need additional information, please contact Senator Broome’s office at 225.359.9352.
Rep. Richmond Lauds Recommendation of Kenneth Polite Jr. as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana
To get around, boycott leaders organized car pools. Here, commuters pile into the back of a car outside the Old State Capitol building in downtown Baton Rouge.
boycott’s primary participants and witnesses. Rare archival photographs, film footage, and newspaper articles help in presenting a complete and accurate presentation of the boycott’s history. Signpost uses its team of scholars to examine the rich legacy of grass-roots African American community activism, which was vibrant and effective in Baton Rouge during the 1940’s and 1950’s. In the years following World War II, numerous neighborhood-based voters leagues worked with Southern University students and NAACP activists to boost voter registration. Empowered by their growing ranks, African American leaders mobilized new voters and succeeded in winning limited concessions
from white city leaders when it came to employment practices, use of public facilities and initially, in negotiating more equitable service from the city’s bus company. Signpost examines the power of this grassroots organization. By recording interviews with African American leaders of the time and aging boycott participants, many of whom have never been interviewed, Signpost reveals important new elements of this story. This is a remarkable story, which most people have never heard. Signpost also examines the boycott’s relevance in the adoption of a strategy of non-violent, mass civil disobedience in early civil rights protest, and the emerging role of the black church See boycott, on page 3
Washington, DCCongressman Cedric Richmond (LA-02) issued the following statement in support of the recommendation of Kenneth Polite Jr. as U.S. Attorney for Eastern District of Louisiana: “I fully support today’s recommendation and I am confident that, if nominated and confirmed, Kenneth is up to the task before him as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Kenneth is a bright young man who has been educated at some of the country’s top educational institutions. In addition to his stellar academic preparation, he also has enjoyed a very productive legal career, including a stint as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York—one of the most intense assignments in the country. In the midst of his academic and professional successes he has remained committed to the community he was born and raised in, the city of New Orleans. For some time, I have stressed the importance of finding someone who can restore integrity to the U.S. Attorney’s Office
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Congressman Cedric Richmond
so that it can again gain the public’s trust. In Kenneth I think we have found that person. Kenneth represents the best of a new generation of leaders poised to lead our region and state forward. If confirmed, he would become U.S. Attorney close to the same age our state’s chief executive assumed his current role.” Contact Virgil Miller at (202) 225-3727 for more information.
Religion News Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church elected Reverend Fred Jeff Smith as their new pastor, following the death of Reverend Charles Smith... See Page 6
INDEX
Keeva Celebrates her Birthday Residents came to the Anna T. Jordan recreation center between 4-7 p.m. to look at drawings which illustrate both options, discuss their ideas with BREC Planning and Engineering staff and to fill out a survey which will help determine the final decision. ...See Page 3
Family and Friends numbering over thirty people from far and near gathered at Portobello’s on old Hammond Hwy to honor Keeva La’ Chanda Smith with a Surprise Birthday Party. ...See Page 2
Fontenot Offers Mentorship
25-year-old African American businessman Kendall Vonkeith Fontenot is making history. His aim was to achieve his goal of retiring his family and become financially free. At the age of 24, he accomplished that goal..See Page 5
Treatments for Prostate Cancer
Men with high-risk prostate cancer treated with only 18 months of hormone therapy live just as long as those treated for a more standard 36 months, a new study has found... See Page 7
Local & State............................2 Commentary.............................4 Business....................................5 Religion....................................6 Health.......................................7 Sports.......................................8
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THEWEEKLYPRESS.COM Celebrating 37 Years Of Service To The Baton Rouge Community 225.775.2002 Educate, Engage & Inspire Our Readers by Sharing Your Diversity FEBRUARY: Celebrating The Achievements of Great African-Americans or Community Initiatives