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Aiigiwta Nms-ißpitwui A 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 '~S: v’ ♦ "■•c WS£* ik Jr* Saffig; 4 ‘ 'h<«4 1k I jVVvA / ' .tA»r: , ; I pW?* / ? r * »IXv Xk/ Wi • m*'- -X y ' Iwl Willi tit* -• ttw ZOlfr 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 NmOi 91 111 ' Bl ** y, • ... AMtKIUM a »!C»MO»t ■ ■ ■ _ \_ - " r v I’ I<* hK M ■ 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 [q Gone 10 minutes 52600 missing Boysages9& 11 arrested in burglary Woman allegedly raped in her home 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.”