Special Edition: Black History 2015 Celebrated The
reFlector
Doris Kerr Larkins
The Dream that She Made Real
Rudy Love Wichita’s King of R&B
Liberia
The Shadow We Cast Across The Sea
Selma The Marches
Plenty of Black History in Kansas Take a drive across our state
A Black History Supplement to The Community Voice In Partnership With The The Kansas African American Affairs Commission
The
2015
Reflector P.O. Box 20804 Wichita, KS 67208 316.681.1155 E-mail press releases: press@tcvpub.com online voiceitwichita.com
Editor In Chief
Contents Black Heritage Stamp Honoree Robert Robinson Taylor
F
3 Liberia's American Roots are Showing
4
Bonita Gooch
Marketing
Cornell Hill & Bonita Gooch
Graphic Design
Doris Kerr Larkins Dreamed
Sarah Glenn
HISTORICAL CONSULTANTS
The Kansas African american museum family history project team -- members: jackie lugrand, jozel eckels, joseph bowen and mark criner. Charles McAfee & Barbara Sims Coleman paul oberg, mccormick school museum john wright
The Reflector is a special supplement to The Community Voice Newspaper. The Community Voice is published biweekly by TCV Publishing, Inc., 2918 E. Douglas, Wichita, KS 67208. Extra copies of this supplement can be purchased for $1 each plus postage, if mailing is required.
Editor’s Thoughts
Rudy Love Wichita’s Soul Plenty of Black History In Kansas
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or an editor, choosing a favorite issue is like choosing a favorite child. You have to ponder if it’s fair to do so. I love our annual wedding issue and of course our love issue published around Valentine’s Day. Last year we added Black Women Empowered and this year we’re adding Men of Excellence. I enjoy preparing them all, but there is a special place in my heart for The Reflector, our annual Black History Supplement. Even before we finish an edition, we’re already thinking about stories for the next. While you’re digging and researching forr articles, we always come up with another interesting story that just has to be told. We thoroughly enjoy researching the stories and sharing them with our readers -- young and old. As always, some of our readers may have lived the history covered in this issue. I’m sure there are a lot of you who have enjoyed the sounds of Rudy Love or have had an opportunity to enjoy the
benefits of The Kanss African American Museum, the vision of Doris Kerr Larkins. For our younger and youngest readers, this information in these pages are far too often new and unfamiliar. We prepare this piece especially for them to draw inspiration for and about the great things they themselves can do. We thank our sponsor the Kansas African American Affairs Commission for supporting this important publication. They’ve never flinched in their support of this edition. A little about KAAAC and their history. The board serves as the official liaison for the governor to the community. The seven member board was created in 1997 by the passage of House Bill 2444. Members are appointed by the governor and leaders of the Kansas House and Senate.
Bonita Gooch
Bonita Gooch, Publisher
The Community Voice is a bi-weekly publication of TCV Publishing, Inc. The Reflector is published annually as a special Black History supplement to the paper. Each year, The Reflector features unique national, regional and local stories about deserving individuals and situations that typical fall below the radar. We’re able to bring this issue to our readers thanks to our sponsors the Kansas African American Affairs Commission and our advertisers. We thank them for their support.
The Reflector 2015 | 3
Stamps
Robert Robinson Taylor Architect and Educator
T
he 38th stamp in the Black Heritage series honors architect and educator Robert Robinson Taylor (1868–1942). For more than three decades, Taylor supervised the design and construction of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama while also overseeing the school's programs in industrial education and the building trades. He is believed to have been both the first Black graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the country's first academically trained Black architect. The stamp features a photograph of Taylor taken circa 1890, when he was around 22 years old and a student at MIT. Taylor was bon in Wilmington, N.C., in 1866, to a middle-class family. His father, Henry, was the son of a White slave owner and a Black mother. The elder Taylor had been allowed to go into business for himself before the Civil War, building cargo ships for trade routes between the United States and South America through the Caribbean. He also built many commercial and residential edifices. His early schooling took place at a school for Blacks operated and maintained by the American Missionary Association. After graduating, he worked in his father's building trade business. He was admitted to the regular freshman class on Sept.23, 1888, although a couple of years older than the average freshman because of his work with his father.Taylor was one of a handful of students from the South. Even the southern Whites encountered prejudice but Blacks even more so. After graduation, he married Nellie C. Taylor and worked as an architect and educator at Tuskegee Institute. Over the course of nearly 40 years, Taylor designed dozens of essential buildings, including libraries, dormitories, lecture halls, industrial workshops, and a handsome chapel, transforming a makeshift campus on an abandoned plantation into a confident, state-of-the art institution. Though he could have been better employed elsewhere, he retired from Tuskegee in 1935.
UP FOR The Rise Up For Youth program works with students in Wichitaarea public high schools, mentoring youth who come from challenging socio-economic circumstances. Through a focus on healthy lifestyle choices, the value of education, and the development of life skills, Rise Up For Youth is helping change young lives. To volunteer, recommend potential participants or provide support, contact us today.
Taylor collapsed and died on December 13, 1942 while attending services in the Tuskegee chapel that he had designed and considered his outstanding achievement as an architect.
SENIOR GRADUATION RATE IN 2014
Notable descendents of Taylor include Valerie Jarrett, Senior Adviser to President Barrack Obama. The stamp will be released on Feb. 12.
The Chapel on the campus of Tuskegee Insittute was one of many buildings designed by Taylor during his nearly 40 years at the college. Most of the buildings built on the campus prior to 1932 were designed by Taylor.
Contact David or Lynn Gilkey David 316.440.3235 | dgilkey@kansasul.org Lynn 316.440.9232 | lgilkey@kansasul.org
© 2015 Koch Industries, Inc.
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4 | The Reflector 2015
Liberia’s American Roots are Showing
International
There’s a reason the Liberian flag and the American flag look so much alike. The small country on the west coast of African has American roots. The country began as a colony of freed Black and slaves escaping American racism. These former slaves took with them some of the good, and the bad, of Aerican back to their native land.
I
n 18th Century America, questions of what to do with free Blacks was an issue. There was a big divide over the issue of colonization – exporting Black from American and settling them in another county. The plan was to send the Blacks back to Africa – from whence they’d come. But after 400 years of slavery, these 18th Century Blacks new nothing of Africa. Colonization was an issue on which both Whites and Blacks were divided. Some Blacks supported colonization because they thought Black Americans would never receive justice in the United States. Others believed African Americans should remain in the United States to fight against slavery and for full legal rights as American citizens. Some Whites saw colonization as a way of ridding the nation of Blacks, while others believed Black Americans would be happier in Africa, where they could live free of racial discrimination. Still others believed Black American colonists could play a central role in Christianizing and civilizing Africa. In 1817, the American Colonization Society (ACS) was formed by a group of slave owners with moderate politics and Quakers. Land in Africa was purchased from local tribes for the purpose of creating a colony for slave owners to ship their slaves back to Africa. Many free African Americans were wary of this new organization. They were concerned that it was dominated by Southerners and slave holders and that it excluded Blacks from membership. In 1822, approximately 86 freed slaves volun-
Liberian Flag
United States of America Flag
tarily boarded the first ACS ship bound for Africa. With the wavering consent of the new immigrants, the American Colonization Society governed the colony through its representative. In time, however, some colonists objected strenuously to the authoritarian policies instituted by the ACS’s governing representative. Such disagreements created tensions within the struggling settlement. By 1824, the first colonists were upset enough to stage their first organized and armed uprising. The disagreements were resolved temporarily and steps were initiated to spell out a system of local administration and to codify the laws. This resulted, a year later, in the Constitution, Government, and Digest of the Laws of Liberia. In this document, sovereign power continued to rest with the ACS's agent.
Sierra Leone Colonized by African American Entrepreneur The American Colonization Society was encouraged in their efforts of colonization by the success of African-American Quaker and maritime entrepreneurs Paul Cuffee. In 1815, Cuffee financed and captained a successful voyage to Sierra Leone where he helped a small group of African-American immigrants establish themselves. Cuffee believe that African Americans could more easily “rise to be a people” in Africa than in America with its system of slavery and its legislated limits on Black freedom. Paul Cuffee Cuffee also envisioned a Black trade network organized by Westernized Blacks who would return to Africa to develop its resources wile educating its people in the skills they had gained during captivity, Cuffee died in 1817 without fully realizing his dream.
Cabinet members were lined up to be executed after a coup d’etat in Liberia in 1980. This was one of a series of photos taken by American photo journalist Larry C. Price, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize in Spot News Photography .
From Colony to Country
The settlement, that had initially been called Christopolis, was renamed Monrovia after the American president, James Monroe, and the colony as a whole was formally called Liberia. Slave states in North America, increasingly interested in getting rid of their free African-American populations, encouraged the formation of colonization societies. These groups organized themselves independently of the ACS and founded their own colonies in Liberia for transplanting free African-Americans. Some of the "volunteers" were emancipated only if they agreed to go to Liberia. Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Mississippi also established Liberian colonies for former slaves and free Blacks. In 1838 the colonies established by Virginia and Pennsylvania Colonization Societies merged with the ACS group to form the Commonwealth of Liberia. The Mississippi settlement joined the commonwealth in 1842. Former Virginian Joseph Jenkins Roberts, a trader and successful military commander, was named the first lieutenant governor and became the first African-American governor of the colony after the appointed governor died in office in 1841. Similar to the United States, in a fight with the British government over taxes, the colonists decided it was necessary to gain their independence. In Oct. 1846 the colonists voted in favor of independence. The next summer, the Liberian
Declaration of Independence was adopted and signed. The Liberian colony's former Governor Joseph Jenkins Roberts was elected the country’s first president. In its Declaration of Independence, the Liberians charged their mother country, the United States, with injustices that made it necessary for them to leave and make new lives for themselves in Africa. They called upon the international community to recognize the independence and sovereignty of Liberia.
Sounds Familiar Doesn’t it
By 1862 nearly 20,000 former slaves had arrived in Liberia. However, after the slaves were freed in American in 1864, the number of immigrants slowed to a trickle. The Americo-Liberians (as the settlers and their descendents were starting to be called) depended on immigrants from nearby regions of Africa to increase the republic's population. The Americo-Liberians formed an elite class and perpetuated a double-tiered social structure in which local African peoples could not achieve full participation in the nation's social, civic, and political life. The Americo-Liberians replicated many of the exclusions and social differentiations that had so limited their own lives in the United States. That class structure continued for nearly a century, even though eventually, some rights were extended to the African peoples. Despite being
See liberia, page 7
5
Provide scholarships and financial assistance to students • Annual School Supply Program Christmas and Halloween activities Special Olympics and Junior ROTC
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6 | The Reflector 2015
liberia,
from page 4
extended some legal rights, the African people remained second class citizens. (Sounds kind of familiar doesn’t it.) The True Whig Party, founded in 1869, became the dominant political party in Liberia and maintained its dominance until a 1980 coup. Despite the class system, things went pretty well in Liberia until the 1980 coup. The country developed an education system that included a university, published a national newspaper the Liberian Herald, and had few armed uprisings. In 1892, the ACS took a new direction. Still a player in Liberia, the organization turned its attention to the question of "How can the society best help and strengthen Liberia?" The society committed itself to fostering a public-school system in Liberia, collecting and diffusing more reliable information about Liberia, and enabling Liberia to depend more on herself. The ACS and the Liberian government worked to recruit colonists based on the needs of Liberia, rather than on the colonist’s situation. An example of this preferred type of colonist was Miss Georgia
Patton, described in an early issue of Liberia. Well-educated, Miss Patton planned to practice medicine and teach school in Liberia. She also shared the ACS goals of doing good for others and spreading Christianity and civilization in Africa.
nic groups and individuals who were dependent on him, such as his own ethnic group, the Krahn, and the Mandingo people. Both groups were small and
and the devastation of Monrovia, before elections were held.
Warlords and Coups
While things were good for Americo-Liberians, it was hell for Liberia’s indigenous people. For over hundred years, indigenous Liberians paid taxes without representation. They were denied voting rights, education, and self-respect. Soldiers often abused the native Africans, taken from them what they wanted, chickens, goats, rice, and other things, in addition to taxes. In the 1930s the League of Nations investigated charge of slavery and forced labor in Liberia. Their report confirmed the existence of both. In 1946, they were finally given the right to vote and participate in elections, but just like in America, that didn’t mean things went smoothly. On April 12, 1980, Samuel Doe led a military coup, killing then Liberian President William R. Tolbert, Jr., in the executive mansion. Twenty-six of Tolbert’s supporters were also killed in the fighting. Shortly after the coup, government ministers were walked publicly around Monrovia in the nude and then summarily executed by a firing squad on the beach. This coup d’état marked the end of the Americo-Liberian rule, which had lasted since independence. Doe was not a publicly known figure in Liberia before the coup. That changed. Doe, who only had an elementary education, was a Master Sergeant in the Liberian Army and the highest ranking officer of the 18 who plotted the coup. Because of his rank, he became Chairman of the People’s Redemption Council that was created following the coup. The group instituted Military Rule in the country and Doe was the military head of state. Under pressure from the United States and other creditors, in July 1984 Doe's government issued a new constitution that allowed the return of political parties outlawed since 1980.
Samuel Doe, Liberia’s first “African” president meets with Ronald Reagan at the White House. On April 12, 1980, Doe led a military coup, killing then Liberian President William Tolbert in the executive mansion. That ended Liberia’s long history of being lead by Americo-Liberians (Liberians of American descent.)
The lifting of the ban on political activities marked the beginning of a multi-party election campaign. Doe established a political party and presented his candidacy for the presidential elections. Doe's National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL) was a constituency composed of eth-
Charles Taylor, the flamoyant warlord who eventually became president of Liberia is the only former head of state since Nuremberg to be convicted for war crimes or crimes against humanity by an international tribunal.
lacked political influence. Another component in his constituency was the Americo-Liberian minority, which had been ousted from power in the April 1980 coup. The presidential election Oct. 15, 1985 featured five different political parties, with televised debates involving all five candidates. The 1985 election commission said President Doe got 51% of the vote, and the opposition shared the remaining 49%. Many observers charged that President Doe stole the 1985 election, with the elections characterized by widespread fraud and rigging. The period after the elections saw increased human rights abuses, corruption, and ethnic tensions. Some said that the resulting civil conflict was the reaction of the Liberian people to the rigging of the election. Some called for the United States to intervene in Liberia to remove President Samuel Doe after he was elected. A decade after he took over in a bloody coup, Doe was captured in Monrovia by faction leader Prince Y. Johnson. Doe was taken to Johnson’s military base and tortured before being killed before television camera. Even though Doe was gone, things didn’t settle down in the country, they got worst. It took seven years of carnage, from 1990 to 1997, a dozen scuttled cease-fire agreements, the murder of tens of thousands of Liberians and starvation of even more, the flight of a million of the country’s population of two and a half million
War lord Charles Taylor, the leader of another military faction, was elected president in Aug. 199, after an election in which there was an implicit threat that Taylor would resume the war unless he was elected. During most of the seven years of war, Taylor and his rebel troops controlled nearly most of Liberia except the capital and were particularly cruel and deadly. A confident man, Taylor was known for his flamboyant showmanship. As a rebel warlord, he turned up at a West African regional conference in full military combat gear. In a show of strength and loyalty, his bodyguards jogged alongside his car from the airport to the center of the City. Taylor resigned in 2003 after he was indicted for war crimes in bordering Sierra Leone. The war there killed tens of thousands of civilians, Taylor was implicated in supporting the brutal rebel groups the Revolutionary which killed, raped, and cut off the limbs of thousands of people. They also forcibly recruited thousands of child soldiers. Taylor allegedly supported the groups by trading diamonds for arms, allowing them to continue terrorizing civilians. In 2012, Taylor became the only former head of state since Nuremberg to be convicted for war crimes or crimes against humanity by an international tribunal. Last year he was sentenced to service 50 years in prison.
What’s Rudy Up to Now
Since 2011, former World Bank Administrator Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has served as president of Liberia.
Local History
T
oday The Kansas African American Museum is a cultural and historic hub for Wichita’s African American community. Their programming is enriching yet culturally focused, their educational programs offer something for all ages, and the rotating gallery displays offer a great balance of art and history. A gathering place, as well as a source of pride for the community, it’s hard to imagine Wichita without the museum. The museum didn’t reach its present dominance without a dream, and the museum’s big dreamer was Doris Kerr Larkins. Doris, with the support of her two sisters, Barbara Ann Kerr and Ra’Shualaamu Bashira, didn’t just preserve history, they made history. Doris was born in Oklahoma City on Sept. 5, 1937. She was the oldest child of James and Verna Kerr. The family moved to Wichita before Doris began school. For a short time, they lived on Cleveland, but a flood forced the family to relocate. They moved to the west side, near Riverside Park, where they were the rare family of color. Due to segregation, Doris was bused back across town to L’ouverture for elementary school. However, she was allowed to attend the all-White – except for her – John Marshal for Junior High School. She graduated from North High.
The Reflector 2015 |
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Doris Kerr Larkins: Dreamed and Delivered Ra’Shualaamu, says the family was often called on by Whites for a “colored” presence. “We were the only ones (Black people) they knew, we were the only ones in the school, the only ones in the community,” said Ra’Shualaamu. “We actually grew up in a White culture.” The fact that the Kerrs were talented musicians helped them fit in. Barbara Ann played the violin and the viola for the symphony and Doris played the piano and the organ, and eventually learned to play the harp. Doris was often the keyboardist at North High events and of course she played for the family’s church, Calvary Baptist. After high school, Doris attended Wichita University and in 1957, married John Larkins. He joined the military and Doris left Wichita following her man. The couple lived in Nebraska, Texas, California and eventually Washington D.C. In the early 70s, encouraged by her well traveled, and 12 year older sister, Ra’Shualaamu joined Doris in D.C. It was important to Doris that her little sister be exposed to another type of culture. “I was the baby girl and I was basically sheltered. We lived out west on Payne St. and I only new classical music and church music,” said Ra’Shualaamu. Their favorite place to hang out in D.C. was Malcolm X Park. “There was always someone drumming or reading poetry, it was the whole African-American exposure.” Doris loved her culture and it was important that she expose it to her sister and to others.
In 1957, Doris Kerr married John Larkins at Cavlary Baptist Church. The couple are pictured with Larkin’s parents James and Verna Kerr. The Kerr family was deeply rooted in Calvary Baptist Church.
The two were in D.C. together for a little over a year when their mother became ill. They returned to Wichita and to their beloved church home Calvary. Gone for more than a decade, when she returned, Doris found things had changed in Wichita as well as Calvary. Urban Renewal of the 60s and 70s had wiped out what
had been Wichita’s historical Black community. The area bound by Main on the East, Central on the South, Waco on the West and Murdock to the north had been the center of Wichita’s Black community when Calvary Baptist Church was built in 1878. The beautiful red brick church with the stately columns had been hand built by African-American bricklayers and it had been the pride of that community for decades. When Doris returned home, Calvary stood virtually alone amidst parking lots and new construction. The Black community had relocated north and east, and sensing the inevitable; Calvary’s congregation opted to sell their building to the City. They built a new church home at 25th and Hillside. The City wanted to tear the building down. There were plans for an inner loop expressway, and the site where Calvary sat was where one of the expressway arterial links was to be built.
A dream and a vision
According to written reports, Doris’ idea for preserving the building was born at an emotional farewell program held just before the congregation relocated.
Larkins, a talented musician, played the organ for Calvary Baptist Church. She was also an accomplished pianist, playing for several community choirs, including the Challengers. A Wichita State she learned to play the harp.
Ra’Shualaamu was performing a solo rendition of Divine Redeemer . She burst into tears and began insisting that the church could not be torn down. “It surprised me so much,” Doris recalled for a magazine article. “I could feel her pain. I knew then that something had to be done.” The ideal of saving Calvary was controversial from the beginning. Not everyone in the African-American community supported the idea. Certainly the City and the County, who were set on rebuilding the area, didn’t support her plans. However, the frequently outspoken Doris didn’t let that stop her. She quickly won over a band of supporters. Joining the three sisters – Doris, Barbara Ann and Ra’Shualaamu -- as spear headers of the dream were Carolyn Myers Noble and Decker Mae Alford. Quickly, the dream grew. More
than just save Calvary, they developed a dream for using the building as the home for an African –American Museum and cultural center. In a 1985 article Doris, said she wanted Calvary to be “a place where children and adults can come to grow and learn; a place for historical exhibits and cultural activities.” The Fantastic Five ladies gained a band of influential and hard working supporters, including then KS St. Sen. Billy McCray, businessman Bob Alford, and community activist Thurman Mitchell, Geneva Gracey and Wilma Turner, just to name a few of the museum’s early supporters. By 1973, they were formally organized as the First National Black Historical Society of Kansas. Their mission, according to their charter, was to “research, promote and preserve Black history and leave its living legacy to all people of the great State of Kansas.”
See Larkins, page 15
8 | The Reflector 2015
2015 COMMUNITY VOICE LEADERSHIP STANDOUTS
Thank you. We are proud of the hard work and dedication you provide as leaders with Westar and thank you for the contributions you make to better your community .
Don Sherman
Vice President, Community Relations and Strategic Partnerships
Commissioner - Wichita Metropolitan Area Planning Commission American Red Cross Midway KS Chapter
Patrice Poole
Human Resources Partner
Leadership Member - Community Baptist Church Kansas Food Bank Warehouse
Ebony Clemons
Jackie Baker
The Kansas African American Museum Real Men, Real Heroes
The Salvation Army Wichita River Festival
Community Relations Manager
General Clerk
The Reflector 2015 | 9
Taking community to heart.
*denotes community involvement To join these Westar Energy leadership standouts, look for opportunities available at WestarEnergy.com/careers.
Tara
Erica
Victoria
The Salvation Army GreaterWichita YMCA
Junior Achievement The Lord’s Diner
Kansas Foodbank Warehouse The Lord’s Diner
Customer Service Rep.
Customer Service Rep.
Customer Service Rep.
Danica
Corey
Camille
United Way of the Plains The Salvation Army
Multiple non-profit and community organizations.
The Girl Scouts Goodwill
Customer Service Rep.
Customer Service Rep.
Customer Service Rep.
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50 Years Ago His power to inspire is timeless. Wichita State University is honored to preserve the creativity, the life and the legacy of fellow Kansan Gordon Parks for the benefit of generations to come.
In early 1965, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) made Selma, Alabama, the focus of its efforts to register black voters in the South. That March, protesters attempting to march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery were met with Johanna Fiore, Portrait of Gordon Parks, 1997 Special Collections and University Archives, Wichita State University Libraries
DREAMS
do come true.
The Reflector 2015
A good college? A new home? A small business? Whatever your dream is, let Commerce help you make it come true. We have a full line of products and services to fit your needs. So, when you are ready to make your dream come true, ask Commerce. We’ll listen to you and offer solutions to help make your dream a reality.
Marches to Selma Bring Change
I
n early 1965, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) made Selma, Alabama, the focus of its efforts to register black voters in the South. That March, protesters attempting to march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery were met with violent resistance by state and local authorities. As the world watched, the protesters (under the protection of federalized National Guard troops) finally achieved their goal, walking around the clock for three days to reach Montgomery. The historic march, and King’s participation in it, greatly helped raise awareness of the difficulty faced by black voters in the South, and the need for a Voting Rights Act, passed later that year.
Voter Registration Effors
in
Selma
Even after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbade discrimination in voting on the basis of race, efforts by civil rights organizations such as the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to register black voters met with fierce resistance in southern states such as Alabama. In early 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. and SCLC decided to make Selma, the focus of a voter registration campaign. Alabama Governor George Wallace was a notorious opponent of desegregation, and the local county sheriff in Dallas County had led a steadfast opposition to Black voter registration drives. As a result, only 2 percent of Selma’s eligible Black voters (300 out of 15,000) had managed to register. King had won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, and his higher profile would help draw international attention to Selma during the eventful months that followed. On February 18, White segregationists attacked a group of peaceful demonstrators in the nearby town of Marion. In the ensuing chaos, an Alabama state trooper fatally shot Jimmie Lee Jackson, a young AfricanAmerican demonstrator. In response to Jackson’s death, King and the SCLC planned a massive protest march from Selma to the state capitol of Montgomery, 54 miles away. A group of 600 people set out on Sun., March 7, but didn’t get far before Alabama state troopers wielding whips, nightsticks and tear gas rushed the group at the Edmund Pettis Bridge and beat them back to Selma. The brutal scene was captured on television, enraging many Americans and drawing civil rights and religious leaders of all faiths to Selma in protest.
See Selma, page 15
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The Reflector 2015| 11
In His on Words
Rudy Love: Wichita’s R&B King
Wichitans may think they know Rudy Love and his siblings. With 17 children, spanning nearly two decades, and a slew of 2nd and third generation Loves, it’s hard not to know one. Besides, the Loves have been lke Wichita royalty, With Rudy’s more than 50 year professional singing career and the family’s athletic prowess; we’ve looked up to and admired them for decades. But like other stars that shine, we know everything isn’t gold. Here Rudy Love shares many of the stories behind the Love family, stories you probably don’t know. He’s assisted by his brother Bob Love.
R
udy Charles Love was born on Sept 15, 1948 in Checotah, OK, the oldest child of Robert and Ahnawake Love. At the age of 13 Ahnawake fell in love with Robert. They may have called it puppy love but for Ahnawake, Robert was her one and only. They met one day while they were watching a little hotel burn down. She recalled what a sharp dresser he was. Ahwnkee, told a reporter this story “There he was with this hat on. I walked up to him and asked him, could I use his hat. We went to school together and we played around. You get a little sassy at the age of 16 you know. “ At 16 Ahnawake was expecting her first son Rudy. In 1949 Bob and Ahnawake married and in 1951, their son Robert Love Jr. was born.
The
early years We moved around a lot. For a while, we lived in Muskogee, and worked on a farm share cropping. We picked beans, cotton, everything that could be picked, we picked it. We lived in these shanty row houses without electricity.
Mom and daddy had a lot of kids fast and daddy would try to work all these jobs. But in his heart he was a musician and he would try to do both and take care of his family as well. And because of that, we moved a lot. Dad only had a 6th grade education. It was tough getting a job. When the music urge would hit him, he followed that, and lose that job. So we went back and forth between Oklahoma a lot in the early years. When I was about 10, daddy got a somewhat better job and we were able to stay here. We got in the school system. Momma started working and we got a little more stable. He worked at meat packing and as a garbage man. When we got a little older we started working as vendors at WSU games. We would go to every game to help supplement the income. We were in church a lot. We went to Tabernacle Baptist and Greater Pentecostal. We were re in the BYT all those alphabet groups.
There were 17 of us; we have a half brother and a half sister. Momma had 15, but we lived most of the time with 13, eight girls and five boys. (In order) There Rudy, Robert, Gary (a half brother), Kenneth, Joe, Peggy, Gerald, Reva (a half sister) Denise and Dennis (Dennis died as an infant). Then the lower 40, Mik (I named him. If he had been a girl, he was supposed to be named Kim and I just reversed the letters), Audrey, Rosie, Etta Marie (ReRe) Reggie and Kim. Another child died very early.
His Father, His Inspiration Rudy’s father Bob Love was a gospel singer, promoter and eventually transition to R&B music.
I was born crazy. I thought I was talented. I was affectionately known as Nutty Buddy. That’s what dad called me. He was my musical inspiration. He sang a lot of Gospel. For a long time, he was more Gospel than anything. That was before he went out into the world. He used to sing with a group call the Canonites. They opened for The Mighty Clouds of Joy Daddy used to promote shows and a lot of the folks would stay at the Old Water Street Hotel. We were privileged to go with daddy to meet Sam Cook, The Mighty Clouds of Joy, Rev. Franklin (Aretha’s father) Johnny Taylor, the Five Blind boys…. Lots of Gospel artists. Eventually Papa love transitioned to R&B Music and was part of a singing group Don and Bob. They did pretty well with a song they recorded in 1961, “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl” on the Argo Label, a subsidiary of Chess records. He was really quite good. I don’t see myself living up to him in a lifetime.
Rudy’s Introduction
to Performing In our house, if you couldn’t sing, you played sports. Actually, you sang and played sports.
People talk about Joe Jackson and the Jackson 5, that wasn’t nothing. We got the same kind of treatment. We were in training to learn how to sing.
We would stand in line practicing our singing and he would walk by and punch you in the stomach. In proper singing, you sing from your diaphragm. I played a little bit of ball, but I would either quit or get cut, just before I made the team. I knew it wasn’t meant for me. I wouldn’t give it my all like I did music. Music just sort of took me. Rudy Love and his good friend Ian Tilbury. They spent a lot of time working and touring in Europe and Asia together. The first group I My next group was Doug and the Intruders. sang in was the Junior Canonites. The other They found me. We played everywhere. We members were Andrew Summers, Bobbie Bryant, played sock hops. We would fill the Cotillion for Rev. Moses Gresham and Bob. Wasn’t any $1 sock hops on Friday. Junior Canonite that couldn’t sing. We were in elementary school and we had these little suits The leader of the group was Doug Terbush, he and they would have us come up and we would was a German, and he ran that organization. He pat our legs. was a little genius at an early age. I learned a lot about band leading and organizing form Doug. Rudy goes Worldly The transition from Gospel music to “worldy” For years, his family owned the IGA on the music was easy for Rudy. corner of 9th and Grove. They knew how to put on a show. We would rent the Armory or the We had long since realized within our family Hutchinson Arena, put up posters and tell people, that the devil doesn’t have any music. The devil here they come. only has noise. If it’s melodic and you like it, it’s music. God gives you the gift to do it anyway. A I briefly had a group called Rudy Love and the lot of folks today want to break it up into secular Soul Brothers. The first person I have to mention and out into the world. is Mr. James, Raymond Fowlers stepdad. He was the sole pusher of our group. He would pack I’ve written thousand of songs, from Gospel, the equipment, drive us to Great Bend or where Country, R&B and Jazz and I’ve written every ever we went, let us go into his house and let us kind of song there is. Ninety percent of them, I practice, use his electricity. personally would not have the intelligence quotient to do if it weren’t for God. I take my guitar Fowler was the keyboard player, Wendell and pencil, or tape recorder and the next thing I Jones was on guitar, I played trombone and sang, know, I can’t stop. My hands are going; I can’t W.L. Mitchell was on Drums, Kenny Witherspoon stop them. was on base. We worked with Mr. Leonard Garret on the very first Black Arts Festival. In junior high at Horace Mann, I was in the group called John and the Interpretations. John The God Father of Soul Gaston was the lead singer and we would do like I was a James Brown complete fool. My the Temptations songs, the Four Tops, James mother used to say if Ike or Tina Turner or James Brown. I was in the background group. John Brown were in town, I wouldn’t make her funeral. was the lead, but gradually I started leading more James and his band used to come to Wichita a songs. lot. Other members of the group were Fred James liked me. I got into his concerts and Rosenborough, Renee Childs, Razz Johnson and would go backstage and hang out with members Louis Caldwell. We sang at TARP shows and at of the band. Maceo, Bobbie Byrd, Pee Wee Ellis, the gym at Horace Mann and we would charge all of those guys were my buddies. I would go people to come in.
Continues on page 12
12| The Reflector get their clothes. I would make liquor store runs, just because I loved the band so much. I couldn’t believe their work ethic. They would let me come to their rehearsals. The band was so synchronized and tight.
we said, “that’s his car over there, but where’s he at.” I said, “That’s him right there.” He didn’t know that I had seen him. He was hiding to see what kind of guys we were. We got in the car and he put on a song he was working on, called “Organize.” ‘ It’s on his “I Get High on You” album. (Released in 1975, it was the first album Sly put out under his name and without the Family Stone.
I had an audition with James Brown. He said, “If you sing and dance, you sing and dance right now.” I started singing and dancing. When I finished he said, “Go get your clothes and we’re going to Tulsa.”
He looked at me in the rear view mirror and asked “Can you sing.” I said, I went home, to my “Yes.” Then he told me to first wife Janet and told sing with the tape he’d put her, “I’m going to be with Bob Love Sr., Rudy’s father, was a talented singer. on. After I sang, he said, James Brown and I’m He sang with a Gospel Group the Cananites before “Brother, you with me.” He going down to Tulsa right moving to R&B. stepped on the gas and we took off. He took me now.” She started crying. We had just gotten up into the sky (figuratively). Sly lived way up in married and were expecting our first baby. the mountains on a ranch. I didn’t go, but every time James Brown came I started living there and Sly says to me, Rudy, to town from then on, we were friends. He was “I want you to handle everything.” I had my band always trying to teach about black stuff and stay living in LA and so I flew Gerald down to San in school. Francisco because he had a headache so bad he
Success Beyond Wichita
At 18, Rudy had the opportunity to tour briefly with little Richard, one of the originators of Rock and Roll. Eventually, he and his band left for L.A. in hopes of making it big. They had a hit with their song “Your Love is So Doggone Good,” which was recorded first by the Whispers and then by Ray Charles, Isaac Hayes and Ester Phillips. There was another taste of success with their song “Does Your Mamma Know You Do this Little Girl,” recorded as Rudy Love and the Love Family. It went to 55 in the United State and 35 in Europe. That song wouldn’t die for some reason. While we were having some success with this song, my friend Tony Sylvester took us to New York to meet a guy named Nate McCalla; he became our God Father. He was the head of Calla Records. (Calla Records was a black-owned, independent Soul record label. One of their best known groups was the Emotions.) Our song was getting ready to go on the radio when a friend hooked me up with Sly Stone. A number of the members of his band were suddenly wanting their own careers. His group was busting up and he was looking for someone to lead it. I came to San Francisco and it was like a fairy tale kind of thing. Sly had this beautiful cream colored Rolls Royce. We walked out the door of the airport and
couldn’t live in L.A. and Sly took Gerald into his house. We became like family members. Bob came out one summer.
He had a trust problem. He didn’t trust everybody, said Bob. He sent me on some serious cross country ventures. But I earned his trust. Then he put me in charge of some things, answering the doors and whatever. That’s how I got to be in the click. Bob was like the Lt. General over the ranch. I turned Jackie Gleason away, Sylvester Stallone, Prince, Ike Turner everyone wanted see Sly. I Recorded “I get High on You” with Sly. I do second lead with him on it. It’s a classic. A lot of people don’t know I’m the second lead. Rudy was the only person ever to sing double leads with him. That’s how much he trusted him, said Bob. Because of his writing abilities and his far reaching thoughts to make music transitional to all people, he became one of my major influencers, he and his good friend George Clinton. They’re inseparable friends. Sly would stay up for days recording music. If it was written in the first two days, Sly would say it wasn’t worth
keeping. He believed the natural ideas start coming out when you get fatigued. I they ever release some of the stuff he’s recorded over the years. When they look into his vault, WOW.
The Good &
the Bad of the Industry “Suffering Wrath” is one the biggest hits Rudy ever wrote, but he gets no credit for it. It’s similar to what happened with his father who was robbed from his residual earnings for “Good Morning Little School Girl.” Rudy and his band worked for a while recording demos at Canyon Records.
Understanding what goes on in the industry is deep. It would take two days to explain it. The trick in the business is to tell you it’s all right. They packaged it up and put our work under an assumed name. and they sent our songs overseas. Some people from England called me and told me the Suffering Wrath was responsible for the Fuk Movement in England. To this day, they’re selling that record over in Europe. Acre records recently reduced in under another Best of Collections. It’s a company sold song with me singing in it and they’re masquerading it as Tyrone Davis.
for a song and went into a record shop and saw a purple record. He played it and went nuts He told Jay Z, “We’ve got to do this.”
Music Is
a Choice he’d Make Again. I was in a studio and a record executive told me. “You see I get a 1000 of these (tapes) a week and there’s only 100 place on the charts. So do you know what happens to everyone else’s hopes and dreams?” He picked up a trash can and dumped my tape in the trash. But somehow, ever since I was 17, me and my family and my dad, we have been able to come up with a chart record. We haven’t gotten the number one. But we’ve gotten millions of dollars worth of business. It’s a blessing to somehow be the ones that somehow get to do it.
From the first day I ended up in Hollywood and I needed some money, I went to Western Union and I met Ricardo Montalban. I asked him, “Can you give me any pointers.” He said, “If you love it, you’ll just do it, and what happens happens. And that’s what’s been happening. I love it.
Your love is so Do Gone Good, made $11 million in one year, but I don’t get my share of it. I was 17 years old when I signed a contract that was illegal. They tried to get me to resign it when I was 18. They were so perturbed with me that I quit their organization at gun point. A good experience for Rudy was been his relationship with Jay Z. Jay Z covered Rudy’s son “Does Your Mama Know You Do That Little Girl.” He recorded it in 2007, and calls it “Sweet.” It’s on his “American Gangster” CD. He (Jay Z) handed over a nice check. He and Mike Finnegan were a couple of my best experiences in that kind of deal. P Diddy was looking for a hook
On the Cover:
Rudy Love and and early members of the Love Family Band: Ricky Harding, Rudy, Tyree Judy and Eugene Howard
Rudy (left) and brother Bob Love in a more recent photo.
What’s Rudy Up to Now
R
udy is currently working with a documentary film company on a film about his life. Shawn Rhodes, a friend of mine lives in Newton and a company is filming a movie about the Bender Clan at his house. I wrote this song “To Die For,” which they’re using in the trailer. I’m sitting out there while their filming and the director got to hearing about my story and said, “Hey , I want to do that for my next project.” So that’s what we’re doing. We want to tell the real story. At this moment we’re scripting it and getting the funding. It’s going to be a bio documentary. The challenge is how to cut it down. All of the stories are good, but you can’t tell them all in 1.5 hours. We’re also in the studio recording some new music. We’re working at Mindfire down in Parklane. The owner has so graciously allowed us to use the studio as long as we teach their students about recording. It’s a total state of the art film, sound stage and recording studio.
The Reflector 2015 | 13
Kansas History
Plenty of Black History in Kansas
•Kansas has a rich Black History and some of it is documented in historical sites and museums across the state. If you’re looking for an educational and fun day trip, pack up the family and/or friends and head out to one of the state’s Black history sites. All of them are just a quick and scenic drive from Wichita and offer free admission.
Gordon Parks Museum & Center for Culture & Diversity Fort Scott Community College Fort Scott, KS
G
ordon Parks’ Kansas roots date back to his birth in 1912 in Fort Scott, KS. So it’s not surprising that Fort Scott is proud to celebrate one of its best known natives. Scott, a photographer, musician, writer and film director, is best remembered for his photographic essays for Life magazine and as the director of the 1971 film, Shaft. While he became a citizen of the world, Parks spent the first 15 years in Fort Scott. If you visit the Gordon Parks Museum, you’ll be able to see many of Parks’ iconic photos. After his death in 2006, Wichita State University received many of Park’s papers, but there was plenty left for the Fort Scott Museum. Some of the Parks’ personal things that you’ll see at the museum include his medals, personal photos, paintings and drawings, selected books and articles, clothing, record player, tennis racquet, his collection of Life magazines and much more. Scott’s gravesite is also in Fort Scott. Each year in early October the Center holds an annual threeday Gordon Parks Celebration of Culture and Diversity. In addition the center holds an annual Gordon Parks Photography Contest that attracts entries from photographers across the world. PHOTOS: While you’re in Great Bend, you can pay tribute to Parks at his gravesite. The Gordon Parks Museum is in a state of the art facility located on the campus of Fort Scott Community College. A section of the museum replicates Parks’ home including the desk where he worked and his personal photographs. At the museum, informative displays walk you through Parks’ life.
Distance & Directions Fort Scott is 153 miles due east of Wichita. Take either Hwy 54 or 400 east to get there. Traveling time: 2hrs, 30 min. Museum Hours The museum is open Monday through Friday during the regular school year. It may also be opened on the weekend for special tours. They suggest calling before you visit, since the museum is sometimes closed for meetings and travel. Call 1-800-874-3722, ext. 5850 or email gordonparkscenter@fortscott.edu.
George Washington Carver Exhibit Ottawa County Historical Museum Minneapolis, KS
F
amous African-American botanist and inventor George Washington Carver spent most of the first quarter of his life living in little town in Kansas and Southwest Missouri. He was born in Diamond Grove, MO, raised in Neosha, MO, but left there to attend a school that would educate Black children. For a while, he lived in Fort Scott, he also attended school in Paola, KS and farmed for a while in Ness County, KS. The Ottawa County Museum in Minneapolis, KS has its fair share of whatever the people in town wanted to donate, but the museum has a larger corner filled with exhibits about Carver.
Distance and Directions Minneapolis is located is just over 100 miles due north of Wichita. Just get on I-135 and head North. After you past I-70, the road turns into Hwy 81 and it takes you straight to Minneapolis. Traveling time: 1hr, 39 min. Museum Hours The museum is open Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – Noon and 1 – 5 p.m. Admission is free.
PHOTO: Jettie Condray, director of the Ottawa County Historical Museum in Minneapolis, KS, conducts a tour of the museum which includes a special section on George Washington Carver who spent several years in Minneapolis.
14 | The Reflector 2015
Nicodemus National Historical Site
Kansas History
Nicodemus, KS
H
istoric Nicodemus is the oldest and only remaining Black Settlement west of the Mississippi. The community was founded in 1877 by freed slaves. These Exodusters fled the south in search of “real” freedom and an opportunity to restart their lives. They were lured by posters that promoted the City as the “Promise Land” and the opportunity to own land through homesteading. Although the City quickly grew in population, today, the small community is nearly a ghost town. However, thanks to designation as a National Historical Site, the history and several of the historical buildings of the city are being preserved. The National Park Service operates a visitor’s center with historical information that is open to the public, and residents can tour the city and the five historic buildings that represent the spirit of Nicodemus. Every summer, during the last weekend of July, the population of the city swells for the annual Emancipation Proclamation Celebration. The celebration has been held every year since 1878. Another reason to visit are the educational and historical camps for youth.
Distance and Directions Nicodemus, located in Northwest Kansas is 236 miles from Wichita. To get there; go north on I-135 and then west on I-70 to Hayes. At Hayes you north on 183, then take KS 18W to 24 East. Traveling time: 3hr, 30 min. Visitor Center Hours The visitor center is open Mondays – Saturdays, 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. It is closed on Sundays and federal holidays. is open Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – Noon and 1 – 5 p.m. Admission is free.
PHOTOS: The St. Francis Hotel is one of five historic buildings that are preserved as part of the national historic site. The Visitors Center, constructed in the old town hall, has displays that detail the history of the city. The residents of Nicodemus valued education and established the first school in the county.
Oscar Micheaux Gravesite Great Bend, KS
O
scar Micheaux was an early fighter for civil rights. Hw used his films to challenge issues of race in America. In 1919, he became the first African American to write, direct and produce a feature film. In his prolific career, he went on to produce and directed 44 independent feature-length films. Oscar was born in Metropolis, IL in 1884, but lived most of his childhood in Great Bend. Both Oscar, and his business partner and brother Swan, are both buried in a Great Bend Cemetery. He died in 1951 while on a promotional tour. The inscription on his gravestone reads, “A Man Ahead of His Time.”
Brown vs Topeka BOE Museum National Historical Site Topeka, KS
B
Distance and Directions Great Bend is 188 miles west of Wichita. To get their go north on I-135 to McPherson and west on 56. Traveling time: 2 hours.
Plenty of Black History in Kansas was photographed by Primus Singleton III, a Philadelphia native who has resided in Kansas since the mid 80’s. Since 2001, he has traveled the state as a sales executive for a subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive. “One day it hit me; this is a beautiful state, why not document my travels and experiences? I try to find the beauty in Kansas and show it through my photography.”
rown V. Topeka Board of Education is one bit of Kansas Black History that most of us know. But, even if you know the basics, a visit to the Brown National Historical Site is a worthwhile and educational experience. Start in the auditorium where the 30minute film Race and the American Creed traces the history of racism and segregaCourtesy Photo tion. The “Education and Justice” gallery examines the barriers Distance and Directions African Americans faced The Brown Historical Site is located in Topeka, 140 miles while trying to receive a northeast of Wichita. Just take the Kansas turnpike to Topeka. formal education before The museum address is 1515 SE Monroe St. raveling time: 2hrs. Brown. The “Legacy of Brown” gallery explores Museum Hours the Civil Rights MoveThe Brown NHS is open from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. daily. The site ment that followed in is closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s the wake of the Brown Day. Admission is free. decision.
Larkins,
from page 7
They formed a board of directors and started soliciting memberships, from he community at $5 and $25 each. Despite the groups active movement forward, they still hadn’t saved the building from the wrecking ball, when Ra’Shualaamu came up with an idea – get the building registered as a historical site. With that designation, the building could never been torn down. They put together the documentations and presented their request for historical status to the Wichita Historical Landmark Preservation Committee. That was in 1974. The group rejected their request, but did offer the group a designation as a “historic property,” a lesser designation that gave the site no protection but helped make grants available for rehabilitation.
The Reflector |15 A. Price Woodrad, Jr. and KS St Sen. Curtis McClinton – had been baptized at the church. Again, they were turned down. In an article published much later, Craig Minor, a History professor at WSU and member of the local historic board, talked about how difficult it was to get a church on the historic register. “Historical preservation ordinances are technically against churches. It stems from the belief that there are always prominent members of churches, therefore, just about all churches could be nominated,” said Minor. To win historical designation, Minor said churches needed to have something special to be considered for landmark status. Of the few he’d ever seen approved, it was mostly because of their
Refusing to quit, Doris and the board presented their case to the Kansas State Historical Landmark Preservation Committee in 1979. This time, they noted the churches historical relevance to Wichita’s Black community and pointed out how many of Wichita’s Black leaders – including former Mayor
Larkins,
from page 7 A Historic March
King himself led another attempt on March 9, but turned the marchers around when state troopers again blocked the road. That night, a group of segregationists beat another protester, the young white minister James Reeb, to death. Alabama state officials (led by Walllace) tried to prevent the march from going forward, but a U.S. district court judge ordered them to permit it. President Lyndon Johnson also backed the marchers, going on national television to pledge his support and lobby for passage of new voting rights legislation he was introducing in Congress. Some 2,000 people set out from Selma on March 21, protected by U.S. Army troops and Alabama National Guard forces that Johnson had ordered under federal control. After walking some 12 hours a day and sleeping in fields along the way, they reached Montgomery on March 25. Nearly 50,000 supporters–Black and White–met the marchers in Montgomery, where they gathered in front of the state capitol to hear King and other speakers including Ralph Bunche (winner of the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize) address the crowd. “No tide of racism can stop us,” King proclaimed from the building’s steps, as viewers from around the world watched the historic moment on television.
LASTING IMPACT
On March 17, 1965, even as the Selma-to-Montgomery marchers fought for the right to carry out their protest, President Lyndon Johnson addressed a joint session of Congress, calling for federal voting rights legislation to protect African Americans from barriers that prevented them from voting. That August, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, which guaranteed the right to vote (first awarded by the 15th Amendment) to all African Americans. Specifically, the act banned literacy tests as a requirement for voting, mandated federal oversight of voter registration in areas where tests had previously been used.
architectural significance. Despite two no’s, Doris didn’t give up, as can be noted by the bronze historical preservation plaque that stands in front of the museum today.
More work to be done
While the group was working on their historical status, they were also working on raising money, and on getting their hands on the building, which was owned by the City. In 1979, Wichita’s Urban Renewal organization sold the building to Sedgwick County with a promise that they would eventually raze it. County officials thought they might temporarily turn the building into much needed office space, but Doris convinced them otherwise. With an enormous amount of controversy, in 1980 Sedgwick County agreed to lease Calvary to the Black Historical Society for $1 per year. The vote was 2-1 with County Commissioner Don Gragg voting against. Gragg was miffed by “irresponsible” statements allegedly made about the commission dragging their feet on the lease. Instead of supporting the lease, Gragg moved to have the building demolished. True, the Historical Society had been trying for years to get the church, but Gragg reminded everyone, the county had only owned the building
for less than a year. A year later, still upset with the Historical Society, Gragg moved to terminate the group’s lease, but was eventually calmed down. Initially, Doris, who was an instructor at St. Paul AME Church Day Care, served as executive director of the organization. But after years at the helm, she gave up the executive’s role. “It was a long and arduous battle involving many hours of meetings and letter writing, said Doris in a 1986 City Life interview. By 1984, even the untiring Doris was ready to call it quits. A frustrated Doris left Wichita that summer to study Humanities at Lane College in Jackson, TN. “I need to go to the south to explore my roots, she explained in yet another article. Doris was gone but the lady who started out to preserve history had made history and her legacy lives on. The old Calvary Baptist finally received National Historical Status in 1987. Doris died on Feb. 17, 1994.
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