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Vol. 4
Fire Department Sued
For Discrimination
The Department of Justice
filed a civil suit today charging
that the St. Louis Fire
Department discriminates
against Black persons in
employment opportunities.
Attorney General William B.
Saxbe said the suit was filed in
U.S. District Court in St.
Louis, Missouri, upon referral
from the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission.
There are only 103 Blacks
among the 1,058 uniformed
firefighters and fire inspectors
in St. Louis and only two
Blacks among the 71 civillian
employes of the fire
department.
The suit chaiged that St.
Louis pursues policies and
practices that discriminate
against Blacks by using
employment and promotion
Julian Bond To Speak To
Augusta Frontiers Group
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The Augusta Chapter of
Frontiers International will be
the host Chapter for the
Annual Frontiers District
Conference at the Ramada Inn
April sth and 6th.
The delegates and their
friends will beaffordeda host of
nationally and regionally
known speakers and panelists.
Featured speaker will be
Georgia State Representative
Julian Bond. He will be
accompanied by Yancey
Marting, executive director of
the Southern Election Fund
and former top aide of Senator
George McGovern, U.S.
Presidential Candidate in 1972.
Other speakers and panelists
will be Dr. Charles Moore,
international president of
Frontiers International, Charles
McMillian, regional director,
OMBE U.S. Department of
Commerce, C.A. Scott, editor
of the Atlanta World, J. Harvey
NATIONAL BLACK NEW* SERVICE
MEMBER
examinations that do not
predict successful job
performance and that have a
disproportionately adverse
impact on Black applicants.
In addition, the suit said, the
fire department has failed to
recruit and hire Blacks on an
equal basis with whites and has
failed to correct the effects of
past discrimination, such as
maintaining racially segregated
fire houses until 1964.
The suit said these practices
violate the equal employment
section of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964.
EEOC referred the matter to
the Justice Department ofter it
received complaints,
investigated them, found
reasonable cause to believe that
discrimination existed, and was
unable to resolve the issues
JULIAN BOND
Kerns, assistant director of the
Southern Regional Office,
National Urban League, Curtis
Atkinson, aide to U.S. Senator
Herman Talmadge, Floyd
Reese, president of the
Afro-American Police
Association, Atlanta.
Henry Brigham, host
president from Augusta will be
assisted by Carlos Faulkner,
representative of Miller’s High
Life Brewing Company.
Other important features of
the meeting will be the annual
program and fiscal reports
from the various chapters, and
the report from the nominating
committee forthe election of
four (4) district officers for
1974-75.
A locally sponsored
Frontiers Dance will be
provided by the host chapter
on Friday night , April sth for
the entertainment of the
visiting Frontiersmen and their
guests.
P.O. Box 953
through conciliation.
The suit asked the court to
issue preliminary and
permanent injunctions
prohibiting city officials from
engaging in any discriminatory
employment practice.
The suit also asked the court
to eliminate examinations and
other selection procedures that
are unvalidated and
non-objective.
To overcome the effects of
the alleged past discriminatory
policies, the suit asked the
court to order city officials to:
Conduct a program to
recruit Blacks for fire
department jobs.
Establish goals for the
hiring and promotion of
qualified Blacks.
Compensate Blacks for
any economic loss they have
NAACP Regional
Convention
The twenty-second annual
southeastern regional
conference of the NAACP was
held March 14-16, 1974 in
Durham, N.C. The theme of
the convention was “Equality
and Justice in Another Time of
Crisis”.
The tempo of this
convention was set by the
key-note speaker, Dr. Vivian
W. Henderson, president of
Clark College in Atlanta. He
said in that while “we live in a
racist society, we are also,
without a doubt, standing in
economical quicksand.” He
cautioned Black Americans to
remember that if tomorrow
found Americans solely white,
many problems would still be
Hatcher, Gibson, Kennedy,
Young Headline King Center
Atlanta-Mrs. Coretta Scott
King, president of The Martin
Luther King, Jr. Center for
Social Change, has announced
that the fifth Annual
Meeting-Conference of The
King Center will be highlighted
with the participation of four
mayors and Senator Edward M.
Kennedy at the Statler-Hilton
Hotel in New York on April
5-6,1974.
A Symposium will be held at
the School of Law of Columbia
University on Friday at 3 p.m.
with the theme being: “After
Watergate: The New Political
Agenda.” The Symposium will
be chaired by Dr. Charles V.
Hamilton, Sayre Professor of
Government of Columbia
University: Dr. Robert L.
Green, Dean, College of Urban
Development, Michigan State
University. Speakers at the
Symposium will be Howard
Lee, third term Mayor of
Chapel Hill, North Carolina;
Congressman Andrew Young,
first Black Congressman from
Georgia in a century; and Mr.
Local Student Accepted In
Governor’s Honor Program
Miss Shelia B. Thurmond,
the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Robert Thurmond, Jr. of 510
Aiken Avenue, was recently
accepted to participate in the
Governor’s Honor Program in
English at Wesleyan College in
Macon, Georgia for the 1973
summer program.
Shelia is a student at Boggs
Academy where she is active in
THE PEOPLE’S PAPER
suffered from the
discriminatory denial of
employment or promotion.
Named as defendants were
the City of St. Louis, Fire
Chief Denis D. Broderick, City
Personnel Director R. Elliott
Scearce, Public Safety Director
Joseph W.B. Clark, and the
three members of the City Civil
Service Commission.
Assistant Attorney General
J. Stanley Pottinger, in charge
of the Civil Rights Division,
said the suit was the sixth filed
by the Justice Department
against a fire department.
Other employment
discrimination suits have been
filed against fire departin' ts
in Albuquerque. New Mexico:
Boston,i i Massachusetts
Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas;
and Los Angeles, California.
with us.
The second day of the
convention was spent in
workshops on education,
housing, and political action.
Attorney Donald L.
Hallowell addressed the
delegation at the Freedom
Awards Dinner Friday night.
He spoke on “the high cost of
freedom.”
The local branch of the
NAACP invites all person to
join the Augusta Branch, and to
attend the meetings which are
held each Monday night
following the second and
fourth Sundays of each month
at 7:30 p.m. ’
“Help us fight for freedom,”
a sokesman urged.
John Lewis, Executive Director
of the Atlanta based Voter
Education Project, and a noted
civil rights activits.
A Mass Rally is scheduled at
the Cathedral of St. John the
Dvine on Friday Evening with
speakers Coleman Young,
Mayor of Detroit; Richard
Hatcher, Mayor of Gary; and
Mrs. Coretta Scott King. The
theme for the Rally is “New
Perspectives on the Crime
Debate.”
A Forum scheduled at the
Statler-Hilton on Saturday,
April 6, will be the culminating
activity of the meeting. The
theme will be: “Pluralism and
the Future of American
Cities.” Speakers scheduled for
the Forum are Kenneth
Gibson, Mayor of Newark,
New Jersey and Senator
Edward M. Kennedy.
The Meeting-Conference will
be open to the public
beginning at 1 p.m. on Friday.
At this time Mrs. Coretta Scott
King will deliver the President’s
Annual Address.
the drama club, debating club,
dormitory council and student
council.
Shelia was also chosen as an
exchange student to study at
Muskingum College in New
Concord, Ohio where she
studied Computing Science for
SEE STUDENT’ P, 2
Augusta, Georgia
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JOYCE JACKSON, “MISS BRONZE AUGUSTA”
Joyce Jackson was crowned
“Miss Bronze Augusta” in
ceremonies held at the A.R.
Johnson Junior High School
Sunday.
A 17-year-old junior at
Richmond Academy High
School, she is the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Jackson
Black Elected Officials Send Resolution To Gov. Carter
The Georgia Association of
Black Elected Officials
(GABEO) met on Saturday,
March 23, 1974, in Macon,
Georgia, in its official quarterly
assembly. The Association
adopted the following
resolutions:
1) That the Governor be
encouraged to sign into law.
Masonic Leader
Oscar McCombs Dies
Mr. Oscar McCombs, 84, of
2618 Oakland Ave. died at a
local infirmary Sunday.
He was born in Charlotte,
North Carolina, Dec. 27th
1889 and was educated in the
public schools of Mecklinburg
County. He began what was to
be his life’s profession by
chauffeuring for the honorable
Armstad Barrow, late judge of
Mecklinburg.
In 1918, he moved to
Augusta where he lived until
his death.
He was raised to the position
of Master Mason in 1918 in the
Jewell Lodge No. 275. He
served as past senior deacon of
five lodges in Augusta: past
senior warden, past master,
New Era Lodge No. 107; past
Getting Down With The O’Jays
Hhl
THE O’JAYS
fiod 4. 1974 No. 3
of 402 Rachael Street.
Runners-up were Daphne
Holland and Patricia Green.
Miss Holland, first
runner-up, is the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Richard W.
Holland.
Miss Green is the daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Saul Jones.
SB. 687, relating to the
Community Action Agency;
and
2) That the power of the
office of Governor be used to
assure Black representation on
the Board of World Trade
Cen ter; and
3) That Governor Carter be
commended for hanging the
master Bannaker Lodge No. 3;
past president and chief
instructor, R.L. Newsome
Craftsman Club, past high
priest, Hiram Chapter No. 15
Royal Arch Masons, past
commander-in-chief Lebanon
Consistory No. 28, and a
shriner. He is a member of the
Rock of Ages C.M.E. Church.
Survivors include his wife,
Mrs. Frances McCombs, two
daughters, Mrs. Mary Amanda
Washington, Atlanta, Mrs.
Cynthia Gresham, Jacksonville,
Fla.; one sister, Mrs. Ida Bell
Jones, New York; sister-in-law,
Mrs. Eloise McCombs, and
goddaughter, Mrs. Bertha
Boyd.
Funeral services will be held
at the Rock of Ages C.M.E.
Church at 4 p.m., with the
Rev. B.S. Pearson officiating.
f —..J
Don’t Kill The Dream
Today is the sixth anniversary of the death of the
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Since Dr. King’s death, the
thrust ot the Black movement lias shifted from
demonstrations Io politics. Blacks all over the nation are
taking advantage ot their political power and electing
more and more Black officials.
One of the tew cities wherein Blacks have a majority
and are largely w asting its political strength in Augusta,
Georgia. Consider for example the fact that of the 16
city councilmen in this city, only three are Black.
According to the 1970 census, 66.3% of the people
living in the tirst ward are Black. But there has never
been a Black city councilman from the first ward. The
third ward is 60.0% Black, but that ward has never had a
Black city councilman. The reason is that in spite of the
fact that we have a majority of the population, we don’t
have a majority of the REGISTERED VOTERS, and
that’s where the action is.
It Blacks registered and voted in proportion to our
population, Blacks could control every election held in
Augusta. That is the true meaning of Black Power. And
we have it. But we need to use it.
We all know that Dr. King walked many a mile for us.
The least that we could do is to exercise the right to
vote that he died trying to get for us. If we fail to
register and to take our sisters and brothers with us to
the polls to vote, we not only dishonor the memory of
Dr. King, we kill his dream and the dreams of all those,
living and dead, who have devoted their lives to our
freedom. i
portrait of Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., in the halls of the
State Capitol. We recognize the
significance of the move and
the magnitude of its historical
implications.
The officers and members of
GABEO greatly appreciate the
efforts you have made in
attempting to bring about
M
In the April issue of Essence
magazine, writer Vernon
Gibbs, turns on to the O’Jays,
one of the hottest Black male
vocal groups around today, and
discovers that their road to
success has been an uphill
climb all the way-it took hard
work, patience, and
togetherness within the group,
consisting of lead singer, Eddie
Lavert, Walter Williams, and
William Powell. “We knew we
had something going and all we
needed was THE record, which
is hard to come by.”
It all began to happen for
them when they got together
with Gamble and Huff who
produced the versatile group
and returned them to the
spotlight with “One Night
Affair” and “Deeper In Love
With You”. Their second
Gamble-Ruff album,
“Backstabbers’’, assured them
success; from it came such
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Boysages9& 11
arrested in burglary
Woman allegedly
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Slot les on page 2
better racial undertstanding in
the State of Georgia.
The resolution was signed
by: Ed Mclntyre, Richmond
County Commissioner,
President; Senator Horace T.
Ward, vice-president; and State
Representative Ben Brown,
secretary.
OSCAR McCOMBS
incredible tunes as “Love
T rain”,“ Ba ckstabbers”,
“Sunshine” and “Time To Get
Down”, accounting for three
gold and one platinum singles
from that one album.
‘There was never any doubt
we had the talent,” says Eddie,
remembering the lull in their
career that followed hits like
“I’ll Be Sweeter Tomorrow”
and “Look Over Your
Shoulder”. “But,” says Walter
Williams, “the collaboration
with Gamble-Huff did it; they
have a unique producing style,
they know what they want to
hear and how to get it out of
you. And, with our latest
album ‘Ship Ahoy’ they outdid
themselves.” Essence
entertainment writer, Gibbs
says, “the O’Jays have
definitely arrived on the music
scene and seem to be getting
down more and more with
each new release.”