SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

..::: : :.:.:.~. ..!:.: Speeches Excerpts ______Page Dis & Data ______. Page

Volume 2 October, 1963 Number 1 Birmingham Bombing Points Up A City With A Sick Soul By Ed Clayton The bomb that rocked the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham on the Sunday morning of Sept. 15 and sent four innocent children to horrible death was not only a blast that stunned America but it sent a shock wave of horrified outrage around the world. As one woman put it, cautiously egg-walking her way through the crunch of broken glass: "My God, you're not even safe in church!" WE SHALL OVERCOME-Joining in singing of Freedom Song, "We Shall Overcome", at opening Grim News night banquet of convention were (from left): Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, his wife, Mrs. Juanita Aber­ nathy; Mrs. Coretta King; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; and speaker, Sen. Leroy Johnson of Ga. The unbelievably grim news was that either a bomb had been hurled or placed under the steps of an entrance to the church seLC Holds Most Successful Convention; and the explosion claimed four victims at­ tending Sunday School- Cynthia Wesley, 14; Carol Robertson, 14; Denise McNair, Upwards Of 5,000 Attend Night Sessions 11; and Addie Mae Collins, 14. The church had been used as headquar­ With a record-breaking registration of more than 500 delegates from affiliates ters in voter registration drives by SCLC, and organizations across the U.S., the seventh annual convention of the Southern was the meeting place for last year's con­ Christian Leadership Conference held in Richmond, Va., Sept. 24-27, turned (Continued on page 2) out to be the most successful in the organization's history. Upwards of some 5,000 Richmond residents and visitors from nearby counties attended the nightly meetings in Virginia Union University's Belgian Building to hear speakers deliver messages based upon the convention theme of "Freedom Now." arrival that he was going to call for a "Christ­ mas buying boycott" as a protest memorial to Turn-Away Crowd the children who were killed in the Birming­ The opening night's banquet on Sept. 24 ham church bombing. The suggestion was met indicated that the convention was going to with mixed reaction from some of the guest be heavily attended as a turn-away crowd of speakers, among them Congressman Adam more than 900 jam-packed the John Mar­ Clayton Powell, who voiced enthusiastic sup­ shall Hotel's Virginia Room and spilled over port, and NAACP Executive Secretary Roy into an adjoining banquet hall, the Colony Wilkins, who expressed a negative response Room. Many of those who could not get in thus: "I find it difficult to go against the were content to stand in the corridors outside idea of Santa Claus." to hear the speakers and listen to the wry humor of comedian Dick Gregory, who was (In a later meeting after the convention of the recipient of a special award. all civil rights leaders who had participated The occasion marked the first time that in the March on Washington it was agreed a predominantly Negro gathering used the that the X mas buying boycott would not' be banquet facilities of the John Marshall Hotel, invoked but that Negroes would be asked to which earlier had expressed apprehension over make some financial sacrifices in memory of the room's use by Negroes. the children. It has been suggested that any Christmas Boycott money normally spent for extravagances should SCLC president Martin Luther King, Jr. be sent to allY olle of the civil rights organi­ Photo courtesy Jet Magazine zations or to a favorite charity.) sent newsmen scrambling for telephones when Explosion blasted face of Jesus Christ from he announced at a press conference upon his (Continued on page 2) stained glass window in 16th Street Church. Church was elected temporary president of expressed it most eloquently in his eulogy Mahalia Jackson To the new affiliate, and school teacher Herbert at last rites for the slain children: Crockett was named vice-chairman. "They have something to say to each of us in their death," he said, "to every Give Benefit Dec. 1 BOMBING minister of the gospel who has remained (Continued from Page 1) silent behind the safe security of stained glass windows . . . to every politician who World-renown gospel venti on, and had been used again as head­ singer Mahalia Jack­ has fed his constituents with the stale bread quarters in this past spring's mass demon­ of hatred and the spoiled meat of racism." son, whose remarkable strations. voice has brought gos­ Sick Mind pel music to millions But just what the bombardier hoped to CONVENTION throughout the world, achieve by murdering innocent and unsus­ (Continued from Page 1) is scheduled to appear pecting children in a Sunday School class in Atlanta, Ga., Sun­ on a Sunday morning was a sickening ques­ day, Dec. 1, in a bene­ Pass Resolution tion that could only be answered by the sick In a resolution passed at the convention, fit concert for SCLC. mind that conceived the heinous plot. Who­ SCLC went on record in favor of seeking to Her appearance will be ever he is, he is the product of a city that get all civil rights cases, both civil and crimi­ an afternoon perform­ has a long case history of being sick. nal, placed in federal courts. The resolution ance at 3: 00 p.m. at The ills were thought to be at least some­ Atlanta's City Audi- also asked that the Kennedy Administration's Miss Jackson what relieved last May 10 when the "Bir­ torium. mingham Agreement" was reached following civil rights bill be amended to provide that Miss Jackson, who has frequently appeared the mass demonstrations and the "Bull" all cases involving voting be tried by judges in other cities in behalf of SCLC, will be Connor retaliation of fire hoses and snarling appointed by federal chief circuit judges to --mai,.'-ing--her--fi.Fst--appearanee- ef-thi1!-kine- i gs:--But-there is no cure for cancer. -Worse, avoid having them brought before judges with Atlanta where SCLC's headquarters are lo­ there is not even hope for cancer that has segregationist sympathies. cated. She will be the second "big name" been allowed to rot and fester for 92 years Dr. King Again Rejects Salary personality to be presented in concert in At­ --or since Birmingham was born. lanta in the "Stars For Freedom" benefit Dr. King, re-elected to the SCLC presi­ series. 50 Bombings dency, again rejected for the sixth straight A recording star for Columbia Records, Birmingham has the kind of cancer that year the board's insistent recommendation Miss Jackson has done more to popularize has made bombing a popular pastime, a that he accept a salary. Since the founding gospel music than any other living person in lightly-regarded pursuit that has accounted of the organization he has received only America today. Her determination to be heard for 50 blasts since the end of World War II the least possible minimum salary of $1.00 obsessed her with such a great passion that without a single solution. per year which entitles him to participate in the early struggles of her career she once Part of the root of this deep-seated in the employee's group insurance plan. sang before audiences in Buffalo, N. Y., for racial disease lies in the fact that big busi­ In refusing to accept any salary from SCLC, an admittance ticket that cost only five cents. ness, the respected steel industry et aI, has Dr. King pointed out that "I have an income kept racism alive with an abnormally fierce from Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta as competition for its jobs. Moreover, with the co-pastor along with my father, and I feel that city's basic economy controlled by absentee this is adequate for me and my family's Organize New SClC Affiliate owners up north, Birmingham's leadership needs." He added: "It is my sincere and dedi­ has, until recently, been vested in the likes cated belief that the struggle for freedom in In Richmond, Va. After Meet of such die-hard racists as "Bull" Conner. which SCLC is engaged is not one to be re­ Indeed, the blame for Birmingham's Sun­ warded with individual wealth and gain, but A Richmond, Va., chapter was organized day School murders can be laid at the foot rather one which finds its fulfillment in spiri­ among SCLC affiliates on Oct. 28, almost a of every racist in that city and every irre­ tual dedication and moral victories." month to the day since the close of SCLC's sponsible city, state and federal official who A closed meeting of board members of the convention in that city. has encouraged lawlessness. It also can be Southern Christian Leadership Conference re­ C. T. Vivian, SCLC director of Affiliates, laid at the foot of every person who has sulted in the following being re-appointed to who helped organize the new group, affirmed stood silently by, hoping the cancer would the 33-man executive board to serve three-year that SCLC would help them achieve civil somehow vanish of its own accord. terms: rights gains in the capital city to the point Esau Jenkins, Charleston, S. C,; Matthew of "moving into the streets" if necessary. Dr. King Delivers Eulogy McCollum, Orangeburg, S. c.; and Daniel -- Rev: E:-----E:-Smith of Riverview-- Baptist SCLC president Martin Luther King, Jr., Speed, Tallahassee, Fla.-

FIERY ORATORY SPARKED CONVENTION

Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth Sen. Leroy Johnson Congo A. Clayton Powell Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

2 Figures Don't Lie ------. WHA 1'5 WRONG WITH 'BOMBINGHAM'

(Editor's note: the following statistical data on employ­ ment for Negroes in Alabama and Birmingham graphic­ ally illustrates the evils of discrimination within the sta!e. The figures were compiled from the 1960 Census Series P.e. 1. Some 300,000 Negroes comprise 30 per cent of the labor force.) State of Alabama Engineers and Technical Workers Whites 10,640 Negroes 74 Managers, Proprietors, Officials, etc. Whites 46,000 Wyatt Walker Photo Negroes 1,094 SCENE OF BOMBING-With broken windows almost everywhere, the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., bears mute evidence Clerical, Sales Workers In Retail Trade of force of expl05ion on Sept. 15 in which four children were ki lied. Windows were also blown out of homes and stores in the area by the Whites 172,000 blast which could be heard for blocks away. Negroes 8,000 Court Judge Joseph Sam Perry said: "It's clear that there was a Private Household Workers (Domestics) refusal because of race and we might as well bring it to a head Whites 8,000 in federal court." He awarded each of the women $500 compensatory Negroes 65,000 damages, plus an additional $500 each punitive damages, $1,500 in legal fees and a refund of $8.40 for travel insurance. City of Birmingham It was the firs.! time damages had been awarded against a travel agency, which means that such firms are now subject to the Inter­ Policemen state Commerce Act which forbids railroads to discriminate. Whites 400 Negroes o Firemen IrH'::""'O:;"'Wh'i;;""';:':"'F:i;':"A';;:';'K;:;I;i:;""! Whites 439 Negroes o iii: With this Sunday's work [Sept. 15] in Birmingham on ;:: i:i: our guilt-record, it's a wonder that any of us whites :~i~ il have a decent bone left. I notice that you Negroes don'q i'l do what we have always done when reporting a crime lii SClC Atty. Wins Discrimination Suit J by a Negro, i. e. give the impression that one Negro J J skin was used to accommodate the ground-up flesh oft Against Travel Agency, Railroad Line ",~ the entire Negro race so that the news release would imply thaU i:i "The Negro Race broke into a hardware store . .." t A Chicago travel agency and the Bur­ "l Destined For Greatness i':~ lington Route Railroad Co. were ordered t There are many factors, many of which are traceable to free iiii iil will choices for good, but just one reason why all the scholars ii: to pay $3,508 on October 4 for discrimi­ 1 are in agreement that Negroes are destined for great things. You ~@ nating against two Chicago Negro women t are the only people without a guilty conscience, having COffi- ii: in a suit in which they were represented ;; mitted no genocide 'against a whole continent's population and M by Atty. Chauncey Eskridge, who also mi lied to yourself that you were bringing civilization to the In- t~i serves as an attorney for SCLC. ) dians; having no six million souls crying out for justice in your @ The women, Mrs. Eva Wright, an em­ (~~ subconsciousness, and all the rest. You all will, in all probabilityJ ployee of the Illinois Labor Dept., and m: commit all the classic crimes eventually, but that will be several t her daughter, Miss Evelyn Williams, a :ii thousand years in the future. ~: school teacher, had charged in the suit f Fully Salt Flavored )) that they were not permitted to take a ;; In the meantime, you are still fully salt-flavored and able to t lend taste to even washed out and tasteless critters like us, espe- Atty. Eskridge r f guided rail tour to the west coast because f cially in representatives such as Dr. King who has all the quali- !i they are Negroes. ~~~! ties of a universal man rather than one hemmed in by race, ~,,~ Paid $780 !i national propagandizing, class "spokes-maniaing", etc. He can ;l They said they paid $780 for a tour of the Pacific Northwest on :'1 take a walk any day with Buddha, Gandhi, Socrates, Lincoln, i.) May 2, 1960, but were not allowed to travel with the organized tour. r Thoreau and others of this caliber. Ii: Instead, they were told by the Vanderbilt Better Tours travel agency ~", More Civilized ;; to report to the train station a day before the scheduled tour for ;:;: Moreover, it's a puzzle to me how anyone who has eyes to ~~l "another tour", but when they arrived they learned that no organized iil see, can't see the obvious fact that the word "civilized" has more \1 tour was leaving. r of a home in the Negro demonstrators than in the white mobs ii Their attorney, Eskridge, pointed out that all white persons booked f attending them. And it is also obvious that the Negroes con- ~':~ for the tour remain booked for the scheduled departure date of July J cerned are happier because they have self respect and innocence Ii 3 up to the time of departure. ~il even when the stated' goal is not attained, whereas the whites r Money Refunded :~; are unhappy and in the gnashing-of-teeth region outside the ;ii Mrs. Wright and Miss Williams refused to travel separately and :il Kingdom of GOoDness. ~ their money was refunded. On July 3, 1962, they filed suit for J JOSEPH COLTON fu\ $100,000. t Mineral Wells, Texas iii In ruling against the travel agency and rail line, U. S. District t:L:,,,,,.,~,,,,,,,,,.,,,.,,,,.,,:,,.,.:.,.,.,.:.,.,.,,,.,,,·'O"':':·"':·:·:':·:·""':·:""""':'"'~'''''''<"'''''''''''''~"""";",~,:",,,~~,,,,>;,,,,,,,,,,::;,,,,,::,,*~~,,,;,,,~"",,,,,j 3 expected to reach the conclusion that there must be some "Red" in the ranks The Cartoonist's View of SCLC. SClC#~ The tactic has been tried many, Long Night's Journey Into Day many times before with other organi­ Publisher, SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN zations, sometimes with success, more LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE often without. The 54-year-old NAACP has had to ward off such scurrilous at­ 334 Auburn Ave., N.E. tacks in its past history. But thank­ Atlanta, Georgia fully it has survived to the everlasting Phone: 524-1378 good fortune of the Negro race. It does not come as any great sur­ MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., President prise that such papers as the Richmond F. L. SHUTTLESWORTH, Secretary News Leader would resort to this sort of editorial witch hunt. What is sur­ RALPH D. ABE~ATHY, Treasurer prising is that the Leader bothered to carry anything at all in the paper's col­ WYATT TEE WALKER,- Executive Director umns after invoking a news blackout EDWARD T. CLAYTON, Editor on the convention for three days. Moreover, what it printed in this connection hardly could be considered _AlMSJ ~.IL PURPOSES OF SCLC as news inasmuch as the same informa­ 1. To achieve full citizenship rights, tion had been carried months before and total integration of the Negro in over the wire services to all the nation's American life. major newspapers and had been dealt 2. To stimulate non-violent direct mass with, answered and dismissed for its Hugh Haynie In Louisville Courier Journal action to remove the barriers of segre­ news value. Any re-hash of it, as any gation and discrhnination. good editor knows, is only serving up 3. To disseminate the creative philoso­ phy and techniques of non-violence left-over stew from which the meat has through local and area workshops. all but disappeared . 4. To secure the right and unhampered SCLC, as Dr. King has said, "is so use of the ballot for every citizen. firmly established as a Christian non­ 5. To reduce the cultural lag through violent movement that it would be im­ the Citizenship Training Program. possible to be influenced in any way by the method or philosophy of Com­ munism." And if there is any "red" in Editorial its ranks it is the memory of the red blood of 3,000 lynch victims staining America's history; the red blood spilled The IRedl Plague on the battlefield by Negroes in every war in which this nation has engaged; Over the past several months there and the red trickle from the bullet has been an obvious organized effort wounds that have claimed the lives of to cloud the true purposes of civil rights men like Medgar Evers of Mississippi organizations by labeling them "Com­ who symbolized the "hardiness and munist Front," "Communist-Tainted," valor" for which the red in the Ameri­ or what have you. SCLC and its presi­ can flag stands.-ETC dent, Dr. King, have constantly been Herblock in The Washington Post the targets of such newspaper attacks, although they represent little more than a re-hash of what already has been said SClC Newsletter Reaches and commented upon. The latest of these of considerable 100,000 Mark This Issue length was an editorial in the Rich­ With this issue of the SCLC News­ mond News Leader on the closing day letter, the total distribution across the of the convention which sought to dis­ nation reaches slightly less than the credit SCLC and Dr. King for its past 100,000 mark. The official organ of association with Jack O'Dell, an al­ the Southern Christian Leadership leged one-time communist and former Conference began publishing irregu­ SCLC employee. The editorial also larly in 1961 as a four-page publication, but took exception to the presence at the is now established on a regular monthly basis convention of Bayard Rustin, deputy as a 12-page news organ. director of the March On Washington, Further expansion seems certain in the fu­ also referred to by the paper as "a one­ ture as SCLC continues to grow, and while time young communist." the publication is distributed free of charge The intent of the editorial was clear. and supported in the main by contributions By placing SCLC and Dr. King amidst from its readers, it may become necessary at some point to accept advertising as well as paragraphs liberally sprinkled with the place it on a SUbscription basis. Increased word "communism," the reading pub­ printing costs incurred because of the great lic, depending upon the Richmond demand for the Newsletter indicate that this News Leader for its intelligence, was may become necessary. Palmer In Springfield, Mo., Leader & Press

4 From Convention Speeches ... r;=:::::;::;~ Martin Luther King, Jr., President of SCLC: "If we have won any victory, and certainly there have been some, this is not the hour to gloat in that victory. We must reach still yet for higher peaks of attain­ ment of the ends we seek. We must move now even more militantly forward, knowing full well im(Edi,~~~r:~:~:~f~h'Bo yle, who is author of the book, ~~w~ "The Desegregated ::f:':h~"Wn Heart," I@ that there can be no idle hours in the midst of \'\i was the recipient of a special award at SCLC's convention.) '\i! :::: our siege of battle. Our noble yesterdays must be transformed into new tomorrows re-dedicated to i,i; The 7th Annual meeting of the Southern Christian \:1 our single, sincere thesis that America must cleanse J Leadership Conference, held in Richmond, Sept. 24-27, iii\ itself of this awful sin of race hatred and social :i; and led by Dr. Martin Luther King, seems to be moving iiii injustice. " iii into the past without "editorial" comment by an eye- r \~ witness. This must not happen. t Senator Paul H. Douglas, Democrat of Illinois: "The li Unlike other conferences, the delegates did not ex- ) self-restraint which you have practiced in the face of beat­ Ii press their thoughts so much as they did the e~sence of \ii: ings, jail sentences, fire hoses, police dogs, bomb- h heir lives. They spoke of things they would dIe for. It t ings and the killing of the innocent, as in i was not a bugle-call, beat-of-drums willingness to die, ::i: Birmingham, is beyond and above all praise. I J but the simple assumption that it is better to die for mi have believed fitfully during my life in the su­ t some things than to live without them. li" preme worth of the spirit of active good will :.:. and in the final ability of love to conquer hate '" and to transform society. But I am frank to say ;;: Lighted Faces ::; that I do not think that under such provocations Remarks by chief speakers were well-reported in the ll! as you have experienced I would have possessed \ i! the strength of character to practice it." Ii press but the importance of the meeting did not lie in mi t these. It lay in the brief comments of unknown speakers 1\; i1 from platform and floor, and in the lighted faces and iii Senator Jacob K. Javits, Republican from New York: rdeepened eyes of those who spoke and heard. :i; "Make no mistake about it, the Negro 'revolution' of 1963 1ii The meeting was composed largely of people who had J has generated moral power which can make or ;;. been insulted, beaten, set upon by dogs, thrown into i'! break Presidents - or presidential candidates - ;; jail, for acting out "freedom and justice for all." Their j a power which can make or break political par­ i1 voices shook when they spoke of friends who had been :@ ties. A power - in fact - which can prove bombed and shot to death. Their voices were steady j again to a sometimes doubting world that the i people of the U. S. have the stuff of greatness t when they said, "love your enemies." f when morally challenged - as they are now on this historic issue of equal opportunity and civil rights." All great thoughts G:: times been spoken. I I Wyatt Tee Walker, Executive Assistant to Dr. King: [ Therefore only when they are=: acted out do they move ii'! II into their inherent greatness. No man is great in him- "It appears that in this year of 'Emancipation', there really r is no emancipation. We have been duped, or have ii,\ self. The brilliant, the forceful, are trivial when they t duped ourselves into believing that the chains i~ only flex their mental muscles. We become great when 1\ had been broken, when in truth, we have only :i:1 we stand for a great cause, or act out a great conviction. Ii been chained more securely. Half-freedom has in iii Increasingly Negro Americans are standing for, acting t many instances been worse than no freedom at !\ out the great American theme: "Freedom and justice for t all. The compromise during Reconstruction was t all." Negro Christians are standing for, acting out, the i:i: not only a legal compromise, it was also a moral t great Christian theme: "Love your 'unlovable' neighbor iii compromise. As a nation, what we have sown, l because God loves you." 1::' we are reaping." 1 Thus, in them the soul ?f America vibra~es ~ith ~: l\!\ hfe. In them Chnst lIves t Thomas Kilgore, Jr., Former Director of SCLC's New ¥ with passionate, compas- U York office: "Churches in America may very well ponder ~ sionate love that can re- iii the symbolic meaning of the missing face of ) deem. These are the great t Christ from the stained glass window after the :E Americans, the great Chris- jii bombing of the Sixteenth Street Church in Bir­ ~ tians of .today... Ii mingham. Maybe this disturbing scene is saying i!i Ignonng theIr Just de- f to America's Christianity that all too often the t mands, we reveal ourselves il face of Christ has been in stained glass windows i pale beside them, ~ot al~me ii and not in the lives of the people." $. ill face, but also ill milld, ,iii ~ heart and soul. We could m: L. D. Reddick, SCLC Historian: "Lest we forget, part of 1 quietly, swiftly renew our i: our struggle against inequality is an intellectual revolt ~ nation by making her what \:i against the stereotype to which we have been llii she claims to be. We could :ii reduced by hostile historians, novelists, and after 1 renew our faith by living ;] them the evil or obtuse men of radio, Hollywood h Mrs. Boyle what we affirm. r and television. We do not yet have a plan on them. We have not yet gotten around to a sus­ tained effort not only to get Negroes employed in the publishing and communications industries but to change the picture that these agencies of ~~ information and entertainment paint of us." 5 Convention Mood

Capacity crowds jammed Virginia Union University's Belgian Building nightly (above) to hear speakers in four-day convention meet, often became cheering, pennant-waving spectators (below) in response to fiery oratory.

Surprise contribution at convention came from Yonkers, N. Y., Pub­ lisher Noel F. Marder (r.) who presented Dr. King with checks totaling over $2,000, an additional report from N. Y. banquet.

Autograph seekers were on hand to greet Dr. King virtually everywhere he appeared in public. Here he obliges some students from Virginia Union Uni ­ versity, many of whom took keen interest in convention proceedings.

Rosa Parks Freedom Award was presented to Fred Shuttlesworth (I.) by Mrs. Rosa Parks (at mike). Others in photo are Atty. William Kunstler, N.Y., (2nd from r.) and Rev. Abernathy (r.).

UI.IIIII.IIIII.IIIII.IIII.II Photos These Pages By Scott Henderson Of Richmond, Va. 11,11."".11,11.11111.11

Affiliate Award went to Al abama Christian Movement by Dr. A. A. Peters (r.), Los Angeles. W. E. Shortridge (c.) of Birmingham accepted. :aught By LenslDon

Special award was presented to comedian Dick Gregory (r.l by Dr. Portion of delegates lined up on steps for official convention photo at First African King on behalf of SCLC for his role in civil rights struggle. Gregory, Baptist Church wltere day sessions were held. Registration showed that this was though ill with flu, flew in from Washington, D. C., to attend meet. largest convention in SCLC's six-year history.

Guest speaker Roy Wilkins of NAACP paused to pose with Dr. Senator Jacob Javits (c.) stopped to pause with students from Virginia Union Uni­ King to give lie to reports that there is disunity among civil rights versity upon his arrival to address the convention. Javits spoke on "The Civil Rights organizations. Wilkins was greeted by NAACP unit at Virginia Univ. Struggle In Congress," was warmly received.

Special citation for meritorious service was presented Wyatt Tee Joining in singing "We Shall Overcome" .at conclusion of first night session, Senator Walker (I.), SCLC executive assistant to Dr. King, for job he has Paul Douglas of Illinois (c.) clasps han"ds with Dr. King (I.) and Rev. Abernathy done in helping build SCLC. He is shown being congratulated. (r.) on platform along with Thomas H. Henderson, Virginia Union president.

7 Booklet On ~March' =The=S=C=LC=,U Set For Publication DIS 'N DATA 1300 1-J-kelJ ~ A 96-page, hard-back, paper-cov- Il ~ . ered pictorial booklet, containing As in other areas where the demand speeches and photos from the March DID YOU KNOW . . . t hat B i r- for more knowledge about the Negro in on Washington, is scheduled to be mingham, Ala., is so determined to America's midst has reached a new high, published Nov. 15 by th~eBook Divi- preserve the image of being die-hard the Negro poet too now seems destined for sion of Johnson Publishi . in segregationists that it still has "white" a measure of well-deserved recognition. Be- Chicago. Mrs. Doris S . rs, chief of the and "Negro" signs above the drinking low are listed two of the latest works by de?art~ent .nd - 0 editor of the booklet, fountains and rest rooms in City Hall? two well-known Negro craftsmen, Arna ~~ entitled: r:he. Day T.hey March~d. Further proof that that city is at least Bontemps, Fisk University librari _ ~ mrs .. Saunders said It ~Iil mclu~e an .m- 10 years behind the times - even Gwendolyn Brooks 1 0 - ~u1itizer Prize traductIOn · by Ebony semor edltonal wnter h' d I winner.' Lerone Bennett, who authored the current w e~e sIgns are concerne .... t ~ best-selling Negro history book, Before The hasn t be~n formally announced yet, ,. "J1merican Negro Poetry, an anthology Mayflower. Lavishly-illustrated, the booklet but SCLC s Wyatt Tee Walker, execu- edited by Arna Bontemps. This work of 197 pages, published by Hill & Wang, con- will sell for $ 1.00 tive assistant to Dr. King, is spending tains 171 poems by 55 poets, among them Besides Bennett's introduction, the booklet what leisure moments he can spare at such names familiar to Negroes as James also will contain the following: the job of editing an upcoming book Weldon Johnson, Paul Laurence Dunbar • The Speech delivered by Dr. Martin of sermons for the Educational Heri- and Langston Hughes. It has a brief histor- Luther King, Jr. tage Company. Added thought: The ical introduction and biographical sketches • The 400-word statement by President Greyhound bus station in Richmond, as welL Kennedy. Va., still maintains "white" and "Ne- "" • The words to the freedom song, "We " Selected Poems by Gwendolyn Brooks. Shall Overcome." gro" dining areas although the signs This newest work from the pen of the • The goals of the March. were taken down several years ago. Chicago verse writer is a volume containing • The pledge taken by those who partici- Some Negroes "dare" to eat on the a group of new poems together with selec- d ' h M h "white" side despI'te hostl'le stares, but tions from three earlier books, now out of pate ill t e arc. The mal'or portion of the booklet will be dra- for the most part Negroes "J'ust auto print. Published by Harper & Row, it deals - with a variety of matters set to verse, in- matic photo layouts, Mrs. matically" go to the "Negro" side out Saunders emphasized, and of sheer h b't cluding race, love, war and other ingredients a 1 . of which life is made. pointed out that because of its hard-back cover it • • • will be of long-lasting HAVE YOU READ . The News- New & Current quality. week magazine article (Oct. 21) en­ » When The Word Is Given by Louis E. The booklet will be titled "What The White Man Thinks Lomax. Another effort to make a close available through the At­ Of The Negro Revolt?" Negroes might inspection of the Black Muslim movement, lanta offices of SCLC, and have sensed what it would contain, but this work by author Lomax seeks to tell can be obtained by send­ some of the raw expressions of hatred the "inside" story of the history of the ing $1.00 to 334 Auburn and prejudices voiced in some in­ Black Muslims, their growth, and their lead­ Ave., N.E., Atlanta, Geor­ stances were so hostile that the Louis ership. Publishers are World Publishing Co. Mrs. Saunders gia 30303. Harris organization which took the » The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks. A first novel by famous Life maga­ poll feared that the IBM punch card zine photographer Gordon Parks, this tabulators might walk off the job. The addition to previous Dr. King's Latest Book In reason was simply that 75 per cent of expressions of his tal­ the girl tabulators happened to be ents might make one Three Foreign Languages Negroes .... The October Gibson wonder what Parks By Carole Hoover Report, prepared monthly by New will do next. Besides York marketing specialist D. Parke being an accomplished The second book from the pen of SCLC Gibson, reveals some encouraging photographer, he has President, Martin Luther King, Jf. has al­ signs. Among other things, it points composed piano con­ most reached the 20,000 mark in sales and certos, published po­ is now being translated into three foreign out that 12 banking institutions owned etry and directed mo­ languages, French, German and Swedish. A and operated by Negroes have reached tion pictures. Harper third printing is anticipated for early 1964, a record growth with assets over $71 & Row are publishers in addition to an already scheduled printing million. Nine of the 12 banks are lo­ Mr. Parks of his latest work. in England. cated in the South; one in the Mid­ Having worked exclusively for the past West; one in the nation's Capital; and Available At SCLC several months on Strength To Love, I have one in the North. » Strength To Love by Martin Luther observed that the constituency of the church King, Jr. Publishers: Harper & Row. Price: community has been our largest purchasers. • • • $3.50. The book, Strength To Love, has been HAVE YOU HEARD . .. about the "Freedom Concert" given by Mrs. » Stride Toward Freedom by Martin reviewed nationally and internationally by Luther King, JT. Publishers: Harper & some of the most prominent clergymen of Coretta Scott King, wife of Dr. King, Brothers Co. Price: $2.95 this era. at Brooklyn's Corner Stone Baptist This can be attributed to the fact that the » Crusader Without Violence by L. D. Church? It was a unique presentation, Reddick. Publishers: Harper & Brothers. book was written on a religious-centered telling the freedom story from Mont­ Price: $3.95 philosophy. Greater sales are anticipated for gomery, Ala., to Washington, D. C., » Echo In My Soul by Septima Poinsette the coming months, because not only are in narration, poetry and song. The Clark. Publishers: E. P. Dutton & Co. Price: purchasers receiving the intimate thoughts $4.50 and philosophy of one of America's most talented soprano received such a tre­ mendous response that the idea may » The Desegregated Heart by Sarah Pat­ outstanding leaders; they are also helping ton Boyle. Publishers: William Morrow & finance the struggle that is leading to the develop into a new type concert con­ Co. Price: $5.00 complete redemption of the soul of America. cept as only she would be able to do it.

8 Make Goins In St. Augustine . After months of racial strife, climaxed wIth the brutal beating at a Ku Klux Klan rally recently of four NAACP officials, the NAACP has scored a series of several breakthroughs in the nation's oldest city. They are as fo11._.___ __ • Lunch counters McCrory's have been opened on gated basis and also Del Monico's • T hree Negroes have been clerks and cashiers at three clothing stores. • At Fairchild Aircraft eight persons have been upgraded in their positions to work on airplane interiors.

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\ Quote & Unquote MONTGOMERY DELEGA TlON-Freedom fi ghten since the days of the Montgomery, Ala., bus I boycott in 1955-56, delegates from that city to SCLC's convention got together to pose with convention officials, Wyatt Tee Walker (I.), national coordinator, and Mrs. Laurayne James (r.), Richmond coordinator. Boycott principles are also on front row with Mrs. Rosa Parks, (2nd from 'eft), whose refusal to give up bus seat led to beginning of today's nation-wide freedom fight. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., in his address at SCLC's convention: "Santa Claus begins with a lie to our children alld ellds ill hypocrisy. Strictly a creation of th e File Lawsuit In Miss. JIM CROW SOUTH AFRICA: A Il glo-Saxon world, he has nothing more to do with the birth of Jesus than a rabbit has to do with Christ's resurrection." In Church Integration VOLCANO READY TO ERUPT * * * A lawsuit was filed in the United In a recent article entitled "Invest­ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., eulogizing States District Court in Jackson, Mis­ ing In A Volcano," which appeared the four children bombed to death in Birm­ ingham: "Good still has a way of growillg sissippi, on Oct. 11 which, if success­ in a leading British magazine, the alit of evil. The blood of these girls must ful, will prevent Mississippi officials Investor's Chronicle, the sorry plight serve as a revilCl lizillg force 10 brillg light from arresting, prosecuting, or jailing of South Africa's twelve million Afri­ to this dark city." Negroes who attempt to worship in the cans in a country ruled by three million * * * white Protestant churches of Jackson. whites is vividly pointed up in the light of Newsweek Magazine, in an article on what The suit was filed as a result of the arrest potential industrial investors. the white man thinks of the Negro revolt: on Oct. 6 of three students, two Negroes and The article, written by a former editor of "The white man is eternally torn between one white, from Tougaloo Southern Christian the Johannesburg weekly, the Financial Mail, the right that he knows and the wrong that College on the steps of the Capitol Street states in part: " ... It is of some investment he does." Methodist Church in Jackson. significance that of South Africa's twelve million Africans, three-and-a-half million have * * * Fined $1,000 Rev. Walter R. Courtenay, pastor of the been sent to gaol [jail] in the past five years, The three girls, who attempted to enter First Presbyterian C hurch in Nashville, that job reservation bars them from certain the church to join the congregation in World Tenn .: "A II men are created equally help­ jobs, that they have no direct say in the Wide Communion Sunday worship, were held less, equally ignorant, equally illexperienced fixing of their own wages, that they are with­ overnight in jail and tried the next day with­ and equally sill-touched. " out pol itical rights and that separate develop­ out benefit of legal counsel. Each was sen­ ment is a dishonest sham even in the border * * * tenced to a year in jail and fined $1,000 on industry policy." Laurence Boyd, of Lake Zurich, Ill., telling charges of trespassing and interfering with a Newsweek article how he felt after a in public worship. Bail, which had been set at Millions in Gold Weekly Negro co-worker was refused in a restau­ $ I ,000 for each girl, was posted on Tuesday, South Africa is experiencing an industrial rant: "j thought this was a dirty, cryin' Oct. 8, by two agencies of The Methodist boom, the article goes on to say, stating that shame. Just 'cause he's black don't m ean Church, the Women's Division and the Board a million pounds worth ($2.8 million) of he ain't hungry." of Christian Social Concern. gold is pulled from the ground every week. * * * The three girls are Bette Poole and Ida But the writer furthe~ warns that the investor Nine-Year-Old Birmingham white boy in Hannah, both 19 from Mississippi, and Julie is "being asked to take an interest in a volcano a school essay: "/ think the person that Zaugg, 21, a white transfer student from . . . the important question is not whether bombed the church should get a trial and Oberlin College in Ohio. the mountain will erupt, but when." sinunst [selltellced] for life. A nd / think "If the trouble were to occur within a Negroes have a rite [sic] to fite [sic] Enter Conspiracy year or two it eould probably be 'bottled up' back. A nd I thillk if In papers filed in the District Court, at­ again," the article concludes. "But the policy people wood [sic] stop torneys for the three girls argue that Jackson [apartheid] looks too rigid and too deeply waving th e Confederate law enforcement officials have entered into ingrained ever to adapt itself to a changing flags (the bam b e r s) a conspiracy to deny the students and other world; those who oppose it radically cannot woodllt [sic] do all this." Jackson Negroes their Constitutional rights to hope to win, but they can perhaps survive." * * * worship freely, and that the severe sentences Whitney M. Young, Jr., imposed upon the girls constitute cruel and Attorneys for the students are R. Jess Brown executive director of the unusual punishment. of Jackson and William M. Kunstler and National Urban League: The broad-guaged suit names as defendants Arthur Kinoy of New York. Mr. Brown "While we march to open Mississippi Governor Ross R. Barnett, Jackson was aHorney of record for James Meredith in a restaurant to Negro Mayor Allen Thompson, the chief of police, the Iatter 's successful bid for admission to the customers, our youngsters municipal judge and city prosecutors of Jack­ University of Mississippi last fall. Mr. Kunstler must also march to the son, and the sheriff and county attorney of is trial counsel for the Southern Christian Mr. Young library to read books." Hinds County. Leadership Conference.

9 Coca-Cola Boycott Ended; Negroes Given Beller Jobs

The Negro Ministers of Atlanta called an end to their minister's organization had asked that Negroes either be employed selective buying campaign against the Coca-Cola Bottling or up-graded in the following categories at the soft drink company: Co. of Atlanta on Oct. 8 after the beverage firm agreed 1.) Sales Dept. (one assistant to the sales manager and to their request for employment and job-upgrading for eight route salesmen); 2.) Premix Dept. (one route sales­ man); 3.) Cooler Dept. (one service man); 4.) Garage 16 Negroes. Negotiations for the boycott conclusion were (one full mechanic); 5.) Advedising Dept. (one person); completed at the Coca-Cola plant's office and at Atlanta's 6.) Factory ~promot ions-e ither a forklift op- Ebenezer Baptist Church of which SCLC's president, Dr. Martin Luther erat a loading and unloading foreman) ; 7.) Office King, Jr., is co-pastor. (one clerk typist). Demands Outlined To Train More In their demands for equal job opportu_nities~ or Negroes, the The Atlanta Coca-Cola Bottling Co. not only met the request of the ministers but began training more Negro employees for better job positions and established an apprenticeship program to further train more Negroes for better job positions. In addition, they pledged that all hiring in the future will be done on a non-discriminatory SCEF Director, Three Aides Cleared basis and that more up-grading will take place when jobs become available. The internationally-known soft drink company employs about 45 Of 'Un-American' Charges After Raid per cent Negro help and 55 per cent white at the Atlanta-franchised Judge Bernard J. Cocke of the Louisiana Criminal Dis­ bottling company. trict Court Division, at a preliminary hearing on Oct. 25, President Comments discharged and dismissed the case against James A. Dom­ In commenting on the boycott end and successful negotiations, Arthur L. Montgomery, president of the firm , said: "We plan to browski, executive director of the Southern Conference continue to work as hard as we can, and as well as we can, for the Educational Fund, Inc. (S. c. E. F.), Benjamin E. Smith, benefit of all the citizens of greater Atlanta - both Negro and white. treasurer of S. C. E. F., and New Orleans attorney, and We are proud of the fact that the Atlanta Coca-Cola Bottling Com­ Bruce C. Waltzer, Smith's law partner. pany has as ~ine a record of community services as any organization The three men had been arrested on Oct. 4 by the Louisiana State in the city, and we will work in the future toward making this Police and New Orleans police at the behest of the Louisiana Joint record better than ever." Legislative Committee on Un-American Activities; and their offices and homes were searched. Records and personal possessions were confiscated. No Factual Basis 'March'Speeches, Songs Now On Record Judge Cocke ruled that there was no factual basis for the State's charge that the men had conspired to violate the State's Subversive "We Shall Overcome," a recording of the speeches and Activities and Control Law or its Communist Propaganda Control Act music of the recent March on Washington, has been re­ by managing S.C.E.F. leased by the Council for United Civil Rights Leadership S.C.E.F. is an organization dedicated to furthering integration. as its official, authorized recording. Smith and Waltzer are active civil rights lawyers. The Council, comprising the seven major, national Negro civil The Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth, president of S.C.E.F. and leader of rights organizations, will use revenue from the record to meet costs the Birmingham integration movement, said : 'The dismissal of the of the civil rights crisis. charges against Smith, Waltzer and Dombrowski, is a signal victory The recording is available from the Council office, 10 East 44 for the forces of civil rights and civil liberties in their efforts to bring Street, New York 17, N. Y., at a discount price of $3.00, part of about justice, freedom and fair play." which is set aside for the civil rights organization through which it Subpoenaed by Eastland is ordered. (See order coupon below.) It is also being made available Testimony at the hearing by James A. Pfister, chairman of the to the general public through record stores across the nation, where Louisiana Joint Legislative Committee, revealed that the records and it will be sold for $3.98. personal effects seized on Oct. 4 were subpoenaed on Oct. 5 by Full Speeches, Songs Senator James O. Eastland's U. S. Senate Internal Security Sub­ It contains the full speeches of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and committee. Rabbi Joachim Prinz, excerpts from the talks by Walter Reutber, Roy Wilkins, Whitney M. Young, Jr., John Lewis, Bayard Rustin and INSURANCEMEN HELP-Lending their financial as well as moral sup­ A. Philip Randolph. It also has recorded songs by Joan Baez, Bob port, the National Insurance Association gave a donation of $10,000 to Dylan, Marian Anderson, Odetta and Peter, Paul and Mary. SCLC during its August convention in Chicago. Here Charles Green (r.), The organizations comprising the Council are: National Association representing Atlanta Life Ins. Co., presents Dr. King a check for $5,000, as half the amount from his firm, while George Beavers (I.), Board Chair­ for the Advancement of Colored People; National Urban League; man of Golden State Mutual, Los Angeles, and George Harris, president National Council of Negro Women; N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense and of Chicago's Metropolitan Mutual Assurance Co., look on. Educational Fund, Inc.; Congress of Racial Equality; Southern Christian Leadership Conference; Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

· ."'11'1111... 11111'11'1 1."111 ...... ·•· ... ,...... ·..... ·...... ·...... , , ·...... •...... •..... I11 ... :e- l11.'.'.'.IIIIIIIII.,."'II.I'II'I ..'i ! COUNCIL FOR UNITED CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERSHIP ~ 10 Ea.t 44th Street : New York 17, New York. : Please send me copies of the authorized recording(s) of the March on Washington at the special Co.uncil price. I un~erstand ·• the proceeds from the sale of this record Will benefit the Civil rights ·• movement throughout the country. I enclose $3.00 for each record ·• ordered. · NAME ______·: ! AOpRESS, ______·• CITY ______ZONE ___ STATE ______·• Please make check or money order payable to Council for Unity. ·• • I! S.c.l.C. Branch" ------:

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10 Workers Wanted! Space Needed! For Education Program

By Mrs. Septima P. Clark educatiOn used to be merely a good and worthy thing al - only that. it is one of this nation's ~ ... ~ ...... For meeting challenges posed knowledge, for coping with . . ngo--cr)mIPlt:· Xll.lt:~ society and for adjusting to changmg u,",,",u,.,...... n vidual, continuing education as never before has in the lives of everyone of us. Our world is changing at a staggering pace. Each scientific and technical breakthrough seems to produce a chain reaction of new knowledge, new opportunities and new problems. Today, we must learn more in less time, and throughout life to meet these challenges and in order to insure our security, our productivity, and our adaptability to ever-accelerating changing conditions. Plantation Culture Recently in Hattiesburg, Mississippi I worked with Negro men and men 40 - 81 years of age, fresh from a plantation culture who want Learning to read and write in SCLC Citizenship School, a resident . at Wadmalaw Island S. C. became eligible to register and vote after f,ve to register and vote. Although they have been sent to poor schools, months training. Teache: (at right) is Mrs. Ethel Jenkins Grimball. and in some instances, no schools, or the schools provided for them by the power structure of yesterday, they must now read, write a~d power Development and Training Act which established a three-year interpret the constitution of Mississippi to the satisfaction of the regis­ program to re-train the unemployed in new skills demanded by our trar. This group labored for two hours in a church's educational build­ complex industrial society. The act represents a large scale effort by ing in an effort to acquire the skills necessary to attempt to qualify. the Federal Government to meet some of the problems posed by The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is qffering such service automation, increased technology, and school drop outs. to everyone, but especially to those who attended school prior to 1950. Consider the awesome responsibility that science and technology of Community Level today are creating for the citizens of a democracy. Only through con­ But the place where things really count and where people really stant and continuing study can we discover how to make decisions grow is at the local community level. This. means newer kno.wl~dge about changes in our government's structure that are required if our of state legislation, local rules and regulatIons, state appropnatIons, democratic government is to survive and continue as a model for the and local allocations. This is where the Citizenship School Program new nations recently born. Remember! We are talking about a sponsored by SCLC continues to grow. closeness between economy, urgency, education and action - We must continue our own education. We must learn to become unique problems of adults - which can only be resolved by adults. action - research minded. We must take a look at where we are and Change in Mississippi where we want to be. We need to get so excited about our programs that we even participate ourselves. Hosea Williams, of the Southeastern In all of Mississippi the changing landscape is evident. Cotton fields Georgia Crusade for Voters, 416 W. Park Street, Savannah, Georgia, are now pasture lands and herds of cows are seen roaming the hill­ has done just this. He has prepared for himself and his citizenship sides. Unwilling plow hands and hoe hands have left the ill-constructed school teachers a questionnaire on local, state and national government shacks; huge weather-proofed, electrically-equipped barns house the which encourages a type of research that is rarely given in any college, cows that have changed the one-time crop farms to dairy farms. The but which can prepare one to live in our complex Urban Communities. functionally illiterates of today and tomorrow must be educated and trained to become qualified members of a productive private economy. Movements Discussed In the September Bell Telephone News, Governor Russell of South On Johns Island in a Voter Education Internship Workshop in that Carolina says, "We must not, we cannot tolerate a situation that denies South Carolina community we established a few bench marks after to such a large portion of our people any real chance." discussing the Albany, Georgia, Charleston, S. C. and Greenwood, Miss ~ 'The Ilanau\ tar, adult education is on the increase. The number of movements. It became the consensus of opinion that: people working in the field of adult education is growing. The 1962 Gallup Poll and statistics from the office of Education say that the 1.) Appropriate people must be involved in determining increase has climbed from two to 20 per cent. It has been maturing the goals. 2.) We must marshal all resources. through legislative enactment also, when one considers the 1962 Man- 3.) Ask ourselves: How well have we done? 4.) What level of success have we attained? JACKIE ROBINSON RALLY-Estate of former baseball star Jackie Robin­ 5.) What contributed to our success? son in Stamford, Conn ., was scene of recent fund-raising rally for benefit 6.) Why did we fail in some instances? of SCLC as well as NAACP and CORE. It was second such rally Jackie 7.) How can we improve? has held on grounds of home to aid civil rights cause. Wyatt Walker Photo Suggestions To these questions came the following suggestions: 1.) We must be willing to share our knowledge with others and provide settings for these ideas to be tested and improved. 2.) Struggle more t o find better answers to problems that plague us as educators and citizens. 3.) Be favorable to change - create and maintain within ourselves attitudes of flexibility. 4.) Teach adults to learn how to learn more effectively. Modern society does not live by asking, "Is everybody happy?", but rather, "Is everybody learning?". Continued learning is the basis for being richly alive. There is no room for the apologetic or the "can't­ be-done" attitude. We are living now at a time when the question is: "Who's going to do it and when?"; not, whether it can be done.

11 to the point, I think, where nature wouldn't :·:·~"'··~·"cY:'o·····:::::;*,,;»:::;::::~···"""%"····X::~""········:.-·.. :: ..»»., .. • ·•.. ·• .... •·•···•· ..... ·r let you stop even if you wanted to. Best Letters wishes. I SCLC Offices Paid Visit By, EDGAR LESLIE ~ World1s Oldest Daily Paper f.i To Los Angeles, Calif. ~ The Atlanta offices of SCLC ~ !l were visited by a correspondent f,i Negro In Russia Offers Help iii from the world's oldest daily news- ~ SCLC Dear Rev. King: 4-pa-per, the Berli~g~ke Tidende, which 11 I have been wanting to write you for some fJ, has- been pubhshmg for 217 years ~ time. My name is Huldah_SUSaflL:lark. I am a sixteen-year-old NegrO girl. You may re­ ; in Copenhagen. The correspondent, ~ member that -about two years ago I left the ~ Anders Georg, who is stationed in ~~ A Salute From Budapest Unijed- States to go to school in Moscow t·~ W as h·mgton, DC. ., as a member :·:·~i Ifecause of race discrimination in the U.S.A. of the foreign press corps, was seek- ~ Dear Sirs: ------I am eni.oying myself here very much, but r Millions of YOHng-people all over lie now I'm so excited about what's happening i~ ing information for a series of ar- Jl world warmly applaud and sal with in Birmingham that I can't wait until I get ~ tides in his paper on Dr. King, m solidarity the efforts by Civil &ights groups home. It's too bad that I won't be coming ~ ~CLC a~d the civil rights struggle home this year. i together with other progres§.i.ve minded peo­ ;~ m Amenca. N ple to secure Negro e ).I'

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