Situation Same Here’s As Last Month My Story Complete Record Of All Ike Has Given Us By PAUL ROBESON An Open Letter to Jackie Robinson Se 178 NOTICE in a recent issue-of Vol. III—No. 4 APRIL, 1953 “Our World” magazine that some folks think you’re too outspoken. Certainly not many of our folks share that view. They think like you - that the Yankees, State Dept. Winks = making many a “buck” off Harlem, might have had a *From the Baltimore Afro-Americam few of our ball § players just ge like B’klyn. In At Malan Church fact, I know $ British Jail you've see where a couple By ALPHAEUS HUNTON (Secretary, Council on of real brave fellows, the Tur- African Affairs) , Robeson Urges Action gerson brothers, think it’s Kenyatta about time we continued our The South African govern- 2 The recent jailing of Jome ment has barred Bishops breaking into the Southern Kenyatta, leader of the Kenya leagues—Arkansas and Missis- Frederick Jordan and Howard African Union, is but the “legal’’ Sippi, included. Primm of the African Metho- =< Side of the increasingly brutal "I am happy, Jackie, to have dist Episcopal Church from military attacks being conduct- been in the fight for real going to South Africa to pre- ed by the British in the East democracy in sports.years ago. side over an estimated 150,000 African crown colony of Kenya. I. was proud to stand with AME members there. Both assaults—through court- Judge Landis in 1946 and, at This action is an affront to ‘room, and machinegun—have his invitation, address the the million members of the the same objectives: to destroy major league owners, Gemand- AME church, to the entire Ne- the KAU, main liberation: front ing that the bars against Ne- gro people in the United States of the five-and-a-half ‘million groes in baseball be dropped. and to all American citizens. Africans in Kenya, behead the I knew from my experiences as . It is, moreover, an indication leadership of the militant Ki- a pro football player that the of the lengths to which the Kuyu people, and decimate all fans would not only take us— Malan racists will go in their Africans who continue to dis- but like us. That’s now been desperate effort to stop the ris- play the slightest resistance to proven many times over. ing tide of African resistance, the pitiless exploitation of the Maybe these protests around for the official explanation of MEETINGS LIKE THIS in ‘South Miticg are callnig for the tiny minority of white settlers, you, Jackie, explain a lot of the ban is given that the AME end of the pass laws and wanton police terror. “Convicted” along with Keny-= things about people trying to Church in South Africa is affi- atta, who received a sentence Shut up those of us who speak liated with the African Nation- enn of ‘seven years at hard labor, ( out in many other fields. al Congress, leader of the re- Stating that “in Africa our government is doing busi- were Fred Kubai, chairman of You read in the paper every sistance movement. ness with the white colonialists, not the African people, the Nairobi branch of KAU and day about “doings” in Africa. and is supporting Friendly Relationship’ Malan in South Africa and the British president of the East African These things are very impor- in Kenya and Rhodesia,” Paul Robeson, following the sen- Trade Union Congress; Richard At the United Nations Genl. tant to us. A free Africa—a tencing of Jomo Kenyatta issued a statement urging: Achieng Okeko, general secre- Assembly sessions last Nov., i continent of 200 millions of “Let us protest the jailing of the black leaders of tary of the KAU, and three explaining why the U.S. op- folks like us and related to Kenya. Let us call upon our government this week to stop other leaders of the organiza-< us—can do a lot to change posed the proposal for a UN helping the Ku Kluxer Malan and help the South African tion.. The “trial” was held in Ahings here. ~Commission to “study the ra- people who are marching irresistably toward freedom. Let the deserted, out-of-the-way cial situation” in South Africa, our voices be heard in thousands of telegrams and letters village of Kapenguria. N SOUTH AFRICA _ black U.S. spokesman Charles A. to the President in Washington.” folks are challenging Malan, Sprague said, “My government ‘War’ in Kenya a kind of super Ku Kluxer. respects fully the sovereignty News reports stated that kind. Negro Americans have These Africans are refusing to of the great Union of South low him to go overseas, espe- Kenyatta and his colleagues not been welcome in South obey Jim Crow laws. They Africa with which it has long cially ih a country where stood firm and-unflinching as Africa unless they were serv- want some freedom like we do, been associated in friendly re- there is no color bar and no the judge (flanked on either ants, either domestic or official. discrimination, and they’re willing to suffer lationship. There is steady in- and then Side by soldiers with machine And as for Africans and other and sacrifice for it. Malan and terchange of travel and trade have to come back to our guns, the courtroom filled with a lot of powerful American between our countries... .” ... non-whites leaving the coun- conditions here. While there armed white spectators. and try, the official policy was set investors would like to shut In talking about “steady in- is a Nationalist Government surrounded by armed militia!) forth three years ago by them up and lock them up. terchange of travel” Mr. I don’t think that will be pronounced sentence. Malan’s Minister of Labor, B. Well, I’m very proud that Sprague apparently was think- permitted.” Meanwhile, from Mombasa J. Schoeman, who said: these African brothers and ing only about certain whites. People Demand Answers Cecil Gregory wrote to the sisters of ours play my records The case of the AME bishops “I think it is unfair to the The ban against the AME Pittsburgh Courier. (4/11/53) as they march in’ their pa- is by no means the first of its Non-European himself to al- (Continued on Page 4) (Continued on Page 4) rades. A good part of my time is spent in the work of the © Council on African Affairs; supervised by Dr. Alphaeus Nosed’ Labor Council Launches Southern Drive Hunton, an expert on Africa and son of a great YMCA lead- Metiing in Detroit’s Carlton Plaza er, the late William Hunton. Hotel, the General Council of the Na- Co-chairman of the Council is tional Negro Labor Council mapped out Dr, W. E. B. DuBois, one of plans last month for its own “Operation | the greatest Americans who Dixie.” The: militant labor body, which ever lived. We raise funds for aims at improving the conditions and op- portunities of Negro workers regardless | Africans and bring informa- of affiliation, set out to mobilize sup- F (Continued on Page 3) port throughout the nation for a_ drive j of its’ Southern affiliates to open up ics | thousands. of factory production jobs to z URGENT NOTICE Negroes throughout. the South. If the address plate on Council officers pointed out that as new your paper has a date industries move South they invariably ending °’52 or Jan., Feb., adopt the rigid Jim Crow hiring policies Mar. ’53—your subscription of the area, which means the total ex- has expired. clusion of Negroes from new manufactur- In order to keep FREE- ing industries, or their employment only DOM coming in go RE- in the lowest-paid menial and unskilled NEW NOW! jobs. ; Just tear off the ad- dress plate and put it in Cheap Labor Issue NNLC GENERAL COUNCIL members talk over Southern drive. L. to r.: Rev. M. F. an envelope with $1 and (The Association of Southern Industry Hardin, pres. Cincinnati NLC; Walter Barnett, Louisville; Oliver Palmer, Washington, recently reported that in 1952 industry send it off. D.C.; Asbury Howard, Bessemer, Ala., natl. yice-pres. of NNLC; Leroy’ Wilson, St. Louis, DO IT TODAY! grew in the South at the rate of one (Continued on Page 5) Gnother vice-pres., and Mrs. Anna S. Hardin of Cincinnati. 1626-1953— 2 FREEDOM Equality’ Was the Watchword APRIL, 1953 10¢ MERLOT ee ee Meanwhile the sentiment of the elective franchise. Typi- Last Month FIRST OF A SERIES against slavery had reached cal is the Call to the New This article is the first of a Such ‘a pitch, that New York York State Convention of Ne- I «series on the history of the finally in 1827 totally abolished groes in 1840 (two years after ae POLITICAL SCENE battle which Negroes have the institution — just Tour Frederick Douglass came to waged for political equality in months after “Freedom's Jour- , New York City), signed by, 100 Professor Henry J. Williams, America’s largest city, New nal,” the first abolitionist people, which declared: chairman of the Vote Commis- York. The sequels will appear newspaper was published in “The principal legal dis- sion of the Alabama _ State in each issue from now until New York City by a Negro, ability which affects us, is, the Teachers Association and also the November municipal elec- John B. Russworm. deprivation of the free exer- of the Birmingham Negro Teachers Association an- tions. For a factual background Economic Position Worsens cise in common with other nounced that over 60 per cent of a crusade which is now While meetings were held men, of thg elective franchise.