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The Augusta News-Review - January 8,1976 -
Walking With Dignity - %%
by Al Irby
"Living Is Death, Dying Is Life” aflkS
CHOU EN-LAI, one of the world’s greatest scholars, statesmen,
and liberals succumbed to the demon of all humanity, cancer. The
Asian aristocrat, who, unlike his western counterpart, Dr. Kissinger
had intense interest in Black people. Whenever American Blacks
visited China, the handsome Chou always surprised his Black
visitors by his first-hand knowledge of the continuous Black
struggle in the United States.
Mr. Chou was a descendant of Mandarin forebears, and in his
youth he flunked a test that would have made him eligible to
study in America. He was a member of the celebrated “Long
March”, which miraculously eluded Chiang Kai-shek and his
National Army and eventually chased Chiang Kai-shek and his
army across to Formosa off the continent. Comrade Chou at his
death was a member of the C.P.C. Central Committee, member of
the Political Bureau of the C.P.C. Central Committee, member of
the standing committee of the Political Bureau, Central
committee vice-chairman. Premier of the State Council of the
People’s Republic of China and chairman of the National
Committee of the Chinese people’s political consultative
conference. Aside from Communist Party Chairman Mao
Tse-tung, Chou was the Chinese figure best known to the outside
world. Millions of American citizens saw him on live television
during Nixon’s visit to China in 1972.
It was Chou in tireless negotiations with Kissinger, who
brought about the historic about-face in Chinese policy which
made the visit and improved Chinese-American relations possible.
Suavely handsome and boundlessly energetic, Chou’s ability to
take the middle of the road ensured his survival in the often
turbulent world of Chinese politics. From the 1930 s he identified
himself with Mao and for years was content to be No. 3 in the
Communist hierarchy. But when other leaders-President Liu
Shao-chi and Defense Minister Lin Piao fell by the wayside during
the 1966-69 Cultural Revolution and its aftermath, Chou
emerged No. 2. Throughout the Cultural Revolutionary purge,
which convulsed the party and administration, he labored as
mediator while invoking the authority of Mao. Beside being
premier, he was ffie~first vice chairman of the party, a vice
chairman of the military commission and a member of the
Politburo standing committee. Premier Chou restored vigor and
substance to the administration in 1975. He presided over a
TO BE EQUAL By Vernon Jordan
Recruiting Black Scholars
A couple of months ago I was invited to Ohio State
University’s Annual Visitation Day, a three-day expense-paid
program to recruit Black students for graduate study. The
University invites high ranking students from Black colleges to
come to the Ohio State campus at Columbus, look the school
over and consider going to graduate school there.
The young scholars get to talk to professors, students, and
advisors, and get information about scholarship aid, grants,
assistantships, and other facts they need to make an informed
decision about whether to go to graduate school and which one
to select.
Some 200 Black students from 53 predominately Black
colleges were at the Visitation Day program when I was there,
and if past experience is a guide, nearly 200 will wind up at Ohio
State, most of them with fellowships. There are now 225 Blacks
on fellowships at the Graduate School, compared with only 12
four years ago.
The program was a brainchild of Dean Frank W Hale, Jr. and,
with other special efforts including scholarship aid, fellowships,
and other forms of assistance, has enabled the university to
compile a respectable record in producing Black graduates.
Thus, it is no accident that Ohio State has graduated more
Black PhDs than any other predominately white university in the
country. Under Dean Hale’s leadership, it understands the need
for active recruitment of Black students, the desirability of
overcoming natural suspicions through on-the-spot visitations,
and the absolute need for the availability for fellowship aid to
students drawn from the poorest segment of our society.
This program is the kind that ought to be emulated by other
top universities. Most just make a pass at recruitment, waiting for
Blacks to apply without any particular encouragement. This,
combined with shrinking availability of scholarship funds,
inevitably means continuation of the historic exclusion of Blacks
from graduate training.
It will take special efforts to overcome that exclusion, efforts
that are desperately needed. Only about three percent of higher
Letter To The Editor
Inmates Seek Family Transportation
Dear Editor:
We the inmates from
Augusta, Ga. that are now
incarcerated in the Georgia
State Prison, are seeking aid for
family transportation. We have
tried desperately for some time
to try to bring the outside
world closer to an
understanding about the
inmates and their family
relationships.
Many of the inmates here
from Augusta and in other
THE AUGUSTA NEWS-REVIEW
Mallory K. MillenderEditor-Publisher
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Page 4
camps cannot afford a car
because of the title that we
carry (Ex-cons), which denies a
good job. But, to some people
that title means nothing,
because we are still men and
women regardless of race, color
or denomination.
You see, to be loved by a
mother, wife, children or
whom ever is a joy beyond
compare. But just thinking
about that particular family
member and not being able to
national People’s Congress session which filled in many
government gaps left by the cultural purge and laid down the
blueprint for a massive new economic effort aimed at bringing
China into the front rank of industrial nations by the end of the
century. Chou joined the Communist party in 1921, when he was
a student in France. He learned not only how to outwit his
enemies, but also how to survive in global politics. He had many
friends as well as enemies in his own country. Madam Chiang
Ching Mao was sour on him, because of his moderation, but she
tolerated him because of his brilliance.
Chou was bom in Huai-an in 1898. His family decided to let a
prosperous uncle rear him in urban Shanghai His foster mother
was a strict disciplinarian, and her tantrums and whims made an
impression on young Chou, and helped develop his diplomatic
talents. The great man never discarded his cultural ties with the
west. He had a deep love for France and his memory of his
student days in gay Paree remained with him forever.
A moderate, his ability to compromise and his acceptability to
both sides saved China from total chaos during the 1966-69
Cultural Revolution when extreme leftists and rightists battled
for power. Chou boasted a long career as super negotiator,
beginning with talks in the 1930 s with old crafty Chiang
Kai-shek, his arch foe who died last year. This event fitted Chou
for the concurrent post of foreign minister, which he held until
1958. One of Chou’s boldest acts was to raise Teng from disgrace
in 1973 and turn over to him the reigns of government. Teng is a
short tough man always exuding cheerfulness and keen wit. He
could be counted on to pursue Chou’s moderate policies. It was
Teng who negotiated with Kissinger in 1974 and again in 1975
and met with President Ford, Nixon’s successor, in the closing
weeks of 1975. Chou’s wife Madam Teng Ying-Chao, also was
active politically, chiefly in the women’s movement. Madam Teng
Chou and her husband Chou shared the same prison as youngsters
in 1919 and went together to France to study. They were married
in 1925 and their only child died in infancy. As premier of the
Chinese People’s Republic from its inception in 1949, Chou’s
hands guided his country through a series of domestic and
international storms. Inspite of his socialistic ideological dogmas,
Chou will be remembered as a great thinker and friend of the
underprivileged.
paying jobs are held by Blacks, and in almost any of the high
status, high pay professions - law, medicine, engineering, etc. -
Blacks form one to two percent of the total.
Graduate education is the key to success to those jobs and
professions. In our overcredentialized society, employers are
demanding MAs and PhDs for jobs they used to hire college
graduates for, and sometimes even for positions that didn’t even
demand the BA.
It’s the same old story, just as Blacks are get ting to the starting
gate, entrance becomes more restricted. Black college attendance,
although still unfairly low, is beginning to approach the Black
population share, but the dropout rate is far higher than for
whites and Blacks are grossly underrepresented in graduate and
professional schools, even, I should add, at Ohio State, despite
the excellence of its visitation days.
Part of the key to increasing minority access to higher
education, including vocational education, lies in providing the
financial assistance to enable youngsters to concentrate on their
studies.
That’s why another program I’ve learned of, called Cleveland
Scholarship Programs, is so interesting. This program wisely starts
in the high schools, providing counseling and assistance in
helping students apply for a college and continues on through
various forms of aid through college, vocational training or
technical school.
The stress on technical training is especially useful since most
federal and state programs seem to think that youngsters only
need scholarship aid while in college, leaving those who seek
advanced technical or vocational training out in the cold.
Programs like the Ohio State visitations, Cleveland Scholarship
(nearly half of this program’s participants are white by the way),
those run by the Urban League and other community-based
institutions, are lik beacons shining in the dark night of neglect.
In some small way they help increase minority access to the
tools for a better life and help to open up an educational
structure in danger of strangling itself in exclusiveness.
see them is a very sorriful
feeling. Even though we are in
here for a crime that was
committed, we are paying our
debt to society, but will and
must our families suffer also.
To see children that you
love once, then not see them
again for a year, how can they
remember the word father?
For those of us who have
parents, and dream and think
about them but aren’t able to
see them even though they
want to come is a disturbing
thing to an incarcerated man or
woman.
For those of us that have no
family but are fortunate
enough to have a girl friend or
someone wanting to come and
visit but have no available
means of transportation, is a
deep hurting pain to a man
who is alone.
You see society, we are still
thinking, so don’t give up on us
yet. Some of the inmates who
are fortunate to receive a visit
finds out that it may and will
cost his or her family SS, SlO
or more dollars to ride with
someone here or wherever just
to visit for an hour or two.
You see, there are welfare
organizations in Atlanta and
other cities except Augusta; are
we forgotten?? Instead of a
family paying someone else $5
or $lO or less just for one
t— 1_
person to ride, then why not
use that money to rent a bus
for two (2) days a month to
visit. We can only ask, but how
many people or families are
willing to reach out and help
us, so that our families or loved
ones can share a few happy
words with us. If Richmond
County can buy new busses,
then is it possible that
Richmond County can lend a
hand for once a month?? That
is the question we need help
with. Your help is very much
needed. If additional
information is needed
concerning our number here
you can write Charles M.G.
Wilson, P.O. Box 67159 A-3,
Georgia State Prison,
Reidsville, GA 30453.
Thanking you sincerely
We are, from Augusta:
Charles M.G. Wilson, Edward
L. Johnson, John Hickson,
James Mitchell, Frederick
Lockleer, Joe Williams, C.A.
Ingram, Bruce Owens, Eugene
Clark, Leroy Tanksley, Johnny
Rolland, Sheats, Joseph Gisey
Jr., Willie R. McCary, Freddie
Washington, Isiah Beard Jr.,
Alvin Way, Wilber V.X.
Jefferson, James Truitt,
Albert Allen, Timothy C.
Jackson, Barney F. Ellis, Frank
J. Pressley. Clyde T. Campbell,
Jerome Scott.
x a I
"law-abiding blacks must stop justifying black
LAWLESSNESS ON DENIAL OF RIGHTS-MUST SPEAK fl
OUT FRANKLY AGAINST THE CRIMINAL ELEMENTS fl
OF BLACK YOUTH:
fl
Black Law Enforcement
1976 COULD BE A GALA YEAR IN AUGUSTA
1976, the Bicentennial Year, could be an outstandingly fruitful
period for the Augusta area, especially its Black community. It’s
timely now to complete plans to highlight the rich past
contributions of our foreparents, salute the present, evaluate our
failures and plan for future change and improvements. This would
of course include first-class citizenship, prosperity and enriched
human relationships.
WHY NOT A MAJOR CONVOCATION AND REUNION ON
JUNE 1?
A recent ‘Going Places” column urged News-Review readers
and others to move forward with suggestions and ideas on
programs for the naming of Laney-Walker Blvd. Jimmy Carter, 111
and the Black Heritage Commission, have agreed to give
leadership in forming a board of citizens committee for this
special event.
This column is devoted largely to my personal suggestions.
Won’t you do the same?
Mclntyre rc-elected and laney-walker blvd.
APPROVED BY COUNTY COMMISSION
On New Year’s Day I looked in at the splendid Emancipation
Day program at historic Tabernacle Baptist Church. Two items
were of special interest: (1) Ed Mclntyre was re-elected
commission chairman and (2) Their first business was approval of
the Laney-Walker concept, thus bringing credit to themselves and
making for a good Bicentennial start.
MISS LANEY AND DR. WALKER, TWO GREAT LEADERS
The Bicentennial ceremonies on the re-naming could be one of
the most important and significant occasions in the history of
Augusta’s Black Community because of several reasons.
Both Miss Laney and Dr. Walker were great leaders who
received national acclaim. Their leadership, service and good
works left behind rich history and legend. Both are buried on this
great boulevard. They both left physical structures (Tabernacle
and Lucy Laney High School which actually replaced Haines
Institute with one original building, the Wheeler-Cauley Hall,
built in 1924, still standing).
Both of them, in almost fifty years of service, touched the lives
of two and three generations of many families. Through their
educational leadership (Haines and Walker Baptist) thousands
were trained. Their civic and health betterment achievements
(Lamar School of Negro Nurses, Ninth St. YMCA and Pilgrim
Health and Life Insurance Company) escalated the life styles for
Negro Augustans. United States Presidents sent messages of
sympathy to both of their funerals.
Business in the Black
1976 Economic Outlook
By Charles E. Belle
Regardless of the color of your skin, our country has
experienced the longest and deepest recession since World War 11.
Vietnam with its price inflationary pressure and Watergate with
its political pressure on the people contributed to the collapse of
our prosperity.
The difficulties of New York City are creating deflationary
waves as other cities in the U.S.A, pay higher rates on their
borrowings and small Black towns are simply denied access to
credit markets.
Deflation is not more fun than inflation and could in fact lead
to depression. Only to the extent that deflation provides a
counteraction to inflation can it be viewed positively. Yet it and
other acts may open the door for a thin cause for optimism in
1976.
Congress’ big tax bill extending and expanding 1975’s tax cut
is a strategy for a slow but steady growth in the economy in
1976. Our 200th anniversary as a nnation is a national election
year. The politicians will be playing to the election ears and
promises of prosperity will be a plenty.
However, housing is so bad as to be almost impossible for even
those earning between $15,000 to $20,000 a year. The national
average for a house is higher than $40,000.
In southern California a new home runs around $51,000, and
in New York Metropolitan area about $55,000, and in
Washington, D.C. it’s about $57,000. The tragedy in housing is
that there is nothing under $40,000, so some people cannot buy a
home.
Housing which normally is the national economy leader is not
"GOING PLACES”
By Philip Waring
MANY FORMER AUGUSTANS WILL RETURN
There will be thousands of people both in Augusta and arou
the nation who will want to participate in this signifies
program. And this kind of occassion will not be with us again)
a long time. fl
Several years ago LaVozier LaMar and I sponsored
“Augusta-Aiken Reunion” out East. Many former area residerfl
came in from five different states. People love to reunite ffl
fellowship with former friends and school mates. I personalM
encouraged many to subscribe for the NEWSREVIEW and agrel
on Augusta for retirement. Yes, We’ll have a large group retumiiß
for the Convocation. (1 am sure that the tourist-conventi B
committee of the local Chamber of Commerce would serve afl
resource for large numbers of visitors, etc.)
WHAT SORT OF PROGRAM?
Here again are my personal suggestions. (1) Major event shoufl
be a large public meeting at Tabernacle Baptist Church supervise■
by the planning committee, (2) Appropriate ceremonies at tlfl
graves of Miss Laney and Dr. Walker with pastor of the churil
and principal of the school participating, (3) There should be I
major exhibit of artifacts, memorabilia and historic documenl
re: Laney and Walker. It should be under the direct supervision c
the Black Heritage Commission. It should be at Wallace Brand
Library, Tabernacle, Lucy Laney or the projected Black Heritage
Mesuem if it is available. (4) If resources permit, there should be <
reception, (5) The occasion would be excellent for high schoo
bands and a gala parade before the public convocation, and (6
There should be official proclamations by the mayor of Augusta
Richmond County chairman, governor of Georgia and chairmai
of the Augusta-Richmond County Bicentennial Commission.
LET’S EXAMINE AUGUSTA VIA SYMPOSIUM
While the convocation planning committee will make the final
decisions, I’d like to offer my personal observation. Down
through the years Augusta brings in various outstanding speakers
of note. All of them bring good messages of hope and
importance. One this occasion, however, I’d like to suggest a
symposium composed of several key Augusta leaders. Scope of
presentation is about Dr. Walker and Miss Laney. What were their
dreams and hopes for Augusta? What legacies did they leave
behind? How are the people whom they trained and institution:
they founded giving leadership and service today? What barrier
do they face? How can the community remove these obstacle
and problems? What are the plans and strategies for the future? ,
A symposium would require some preparation but would 11
very helpful in using Miss Laney and Dr. Walker to look back I
the past, examine the present and chart for Augusta’s future. A J
yvu bold enough to accept this challenge?
likely to be as important in 1976. America’s strength wilT J
solidly in Agri-business. Agri-power is more important tl fl
Petro-power. fl
America’s rate of inflation is slower than that of many otfl
countries because of a virtual monopolistic control of the worltfl
exportable food supply. Nevertheless, Blacks and oth
unemployed will find the abundant food supply hard to come I
in 1976.
Unemployment on the national level is expected to give groui
grudgingly to a rate of 7.2 percent. This will mean little change
the unemployment columns of those of color. The natioi
unemployment rate must break below five percent before Blaci
or any other semi-skilled seekers of jobs can sing out and rejoic
The projection of a decline in the rate of inflation to s
percent delivers very little solace to job seekers. The on
interesting sector of the economic sorcerer predictions is for
decline in interest rates to seven percent. This will provide i
opportunity for businesses to borrow and get accelerate
economic growth underway during 1976-for 1977.
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