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Vol. 5
Editorial
Augusta Chronicle Pours Slime
Over Martin Luther King’s Memory
Since Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday, Jan. 15,
many Black Augustans have been talking about the
“nauseating” editorial, “Unjustified Holiday,” written
in The Augusta Chronicle. We, too, found it sickening,
but for a different reason. We are sickened by the
thought that the Black community will let The
Chronicle get away with it.
First, we have to realize that the editorial was not just
a put-down of Dr. King. It was a put-down of all Black
people. Dr. King was, in our opinion, the most
Rosa Louise Ross
1918-1976
MISS ROSA LOUISE ROSS
Miss Rosa Louise Ross, the daughter of Mr. Anthony Ross and
. the late Mrs. Cornelia Ross, was many things to many people:
humanitarian, educator, counselor, untiring worker, true friend.
For this reason, our town is experiencing a deep sense of loss.
Although we are sad, we are also grateful for the many benefits
we have derived from the beautiful life which has just gone from
our midst.
Louise left us a legacy as demonstrated by her many varied
activities. She served her church well, giving of her time, her
talents, and financial means. She took pleasure in gathering the
children of the neighborhood who were not affiliated with other
churches and taking them to Sunday school In addition to
serving the Cumming Grove Baptist Church, she found time to
engage in the activities of other churches, serving them whenever
she could.
Her service to all mankind extended to the elderly, whom she
served by attending to their needs - writing letters, driving them,
or just visiting to f j?e a word of cheer to relieve their loneliness.
As a teacher and counselor to many students who passed her
way, she lived and taught by the example set forth by the Great
Teacher, that is, teaching by precept and example. The
elementary schools of Richmond County should be pleased that
they laid the background for such an excellent scholar. As a
graduate of Paine High School and Paine College, she has become
one of their most outstanding alumna. Teachers College,
Columbia University, where she received the Master’s Degree in
mathematics, is proud to have a successful graduate who also
became a community leader.
Most of her teaching years were spent at Lucy Laney (formerly
A. R. Johnson). She was instrumental in organizing the Big
Brothers at Lucy Laney and the R.O.T.C. unit. For her work in
the educational field, she was selected as the first Teacher of the I
Year for Richmond County, first woman president of the
Richmond County Teacher Association and the first delegate
from Richmond County to the National Education Association
Convention in Denver.
Louise was not just a card carrying member of the many |
organizations in wnich she held membership, but an active
member. She was a charter member of the Georgia Alumni of Pi
Lambda Theta. She was instrumental in the organization of the
Augusta Pan-Hellenic Council and served as its first president. She
also was an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and '
served as Tamiochus and Basileus, and as director for its first
Debutante Cotillion.
In 1976, she was selected Woman of the Year by the National
Association of College Women.
The rich heritage we have from having known Louise
intimately or casually will sustain our town despite its loss of her
presence. Now the day is over, and Louise leaves all of us one of
her favorite prayers
COMMUNICATION
I
The private words I have with God
Are never spoken lightly—
I dwell upon each well-turned phrase
Presented to Him nightly.
But recently I had the thought
That maybe I should trim
A part of my fine flow of words,
And listen more to Him.
P. O. Box 953
outstanding human being, Black or white, living or dead,
to live in this century. Dr. King lived the kind of i
sacrificial life that most of us wish we were capable of
living. Dr. King was the kind of person that most of us
wish that we could be. If, then, The Chronicle places so
little value on Dr. King, were does that place the rest of
us?
We shall not attempt to convince anyone of the
Chronicle’s hate of Black people in general and of those
who try to bring equality for Black people in particular.
The Chronicle says that it is the oldest paper in the
South- established in 1785. If it has not convinced
Black people through its own pages for almost two
hundred years, then there is nothing we can do or say to
convince you.
And we are sure that you have not forgotten that
only ten years ago, The Chronicle-Herald still ran news
of Blacks in a separate section of the newspaper,
entitled “News of Interest to Our Colored Readers.”
Was that intended to bring the races closer together?
Was that intended to show respect for Blacks by giving
us a section all of our own? Or was it to assure whites
that they did not have to offend their eyes by looking
on a Black face unless they chose to? Or was it just
another subconscious manifestation of the segregated
mind?
Is The Chronicle so uninformed that it is not aware of
the FBI and the ClA’s attempts to smear, if not literally
kill, Dr. King? It has been said that there is none so
blind as he who refuses to see. Such is the case with The
Augusta Chronicle. But that’s their problem. Our
responsibility is to see to it that we don’t allow them to
trample on us and our leaders as they blindly seek to
register their hate.
The Chronicle is willfully blind, but it is still quite
capable of feeling. And we believe that it should be
made to feel the indignation of the Black community
and of those who value the principles for which Martin
Luther King lived and died. i
Senate Bill One Encourages Police State
Southern civil
rights leaders have issued a
warning to the Black
community and to civil rights
advocates across the country
concerning > legislation pending
in this session of Congress
which they say could turn the
U.S. into a police state. The
legislation is titled Senate Bill 1.
Issuing the joint statement
were veteran civil rights figures
Julian Bond, John Lewis, The
Rev. Ralph Abernathy and
Bernard Lee. Abernathy and
Lee are President and
Vice-President, respectively, of
the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC).
Dr. C.E. Wells Returns
From South Africa Tour
£ BSi' -
<uL SkHH J
Photo by Stan Raines
Family and friends greet Dr. Wells at airport on his return to Augusta.
The Rev. Dr. C. E. Wells,
pastor of Bethel A.M.E. church
recently returned from a two
week tour of the work of the
African Methodist Episcopal
Augusta, Georgia
Bond, Lewis, Abernathy and
Lee were active figures in the
civil rights movements of the
South in the 1960’5. They said
that if passed, S. 1 “would be a
monumental set-back to the
civil rights gains of the last 20
years.” They called it the most
dangerous legislative threat to
the rights of all Americans ever
to come before the Congress,
and said it would strike hardest
at Blacks and minorities.
S. 1 is a reworking of the
entire U.S. criminal code that
was introduced in its original
form into the Congress by
former President Nixon. It is
pending before the Senate
church in South and West
Africa. His travels took him to
the Republic of Senegal where
he visited the capital city of
Dakar. To Lagos Nigeria;
We feel that at least three steps should be taken
immediately.
1. Black leaders should call a news conference and
make their feelings known in no uncertain terms.
2. There should be a collective boycott of the
Augusta daily newspapers.
3. There should be a general boycott of the
merchants who keep The Chronicle in business.
This last point needs to be elaborated upon.
Newspapers exist off advertising, not by the sale of
newspapers. By boycotting the merchants, one boycotts
The Chronicle. If the merchants don’t have money with
which to advertise, The Chronicle folds up.
It should also be remembered that many merchants
share The Chronicle’s point of view. Consequently, even
if the Black community cancels its subscriptions with The
Chronicle, the merchants will continue to support the
paper just to keep the voice of oppression alive. So the
merchants and the Chronicle must be boycotted for
their hiring policies alone, not to mention the various
other ways in which they discriminate against the Black
community.
Why does The Chronicle take such a dim view of Dr.
King? It’s nothing personal. They will try to destroy
anybody Black or white who tries to bring justice and
equality to Black people. Remember their editorial on
the retirement of Supreme Court Justice William O.
Douglas, entitled, “Without Tears”, in which they
castigated him as badly as they did King?
Yet they find nothing wrong with endorsing Lester
Maddox, naming an expressway after the likes of John
C. Calhoun, defending the most prominent crook in the
twentieth century, Richard Milhouse Nixon.
Dr. King died for us. What are we willing to do for
him and his memory? We believe that people willing to
watch the Chronicle decide who our heroes ought to
be, who sits by and watches Dr. King’s detractors pour
slime over his memory, deserves the kind of treatment
that it is getting from The Chronicle. And the thought is
sickening.
Judiciary Committee. Its
suDDorters include President
Ford, Senate Democratic leader
Mike Mansfield, and
Republican leader Hugh Scott.
The civil rights leaders said,
“S. 1 would outlaw many of
the methods of mass,
nonviolent protest of the
1960’5. It would encourage
government harassment such as
that directed against the late
Dr. Martin Luther King by the
FBI. S. 1 would silence press
exposure of government
secrets, and would turn
concepts of criminal justice
upside down.” They said
Blacks would “face an ominous
Monrovia Liveria; Capetown S.
Africa, MeSeru Lesoto, and
Johannesburg, South
Most of his time was spent ©
the 15th and 18th Episcopal
series of repressive laws in
today’s struggles for justice if
S. 1 is passed.
According to the statement,
S. 1 protects government
employees who commit illegal
acts, calls for widespread
wiretapping, provides a man
datory death penalty and
harsher prison sentences with
less parole or probation.
The four said S. 1, a
753-page bill, “is so filled with
the repressive taint of the
Nixon policies that
amendments cannot save it.”
They called for immediate
efforts by people concerned
with justice to defeat the
measure.
Districts (S. Africa and S.E.
Africa) of the A.M.E. church
where he was the guest of
Bishop Fredrick Calhoun
James.
Dr. Wells served as workshop
leader for the laymen and
youth segments of the 15th
Episcopal Districts Annual
Leadership Congress held in
Capetown S. Africa Dec.
27-Jan.2. He also had the
honor of preaching the annual
Watchnight sermon Dec. 31 at
Bethel Memorial, the largest
African Methodist Episcopal
church in South Africa. For ms
services, Dr. Wells was awarded
an A.M.E. leadership pin by
Bishop James.
Dr. Wells said the
watchnight rededication service
was impressive in its ardor,
sincerity, and level of full
participation on the part of
each worshipper. “It made me
reassess the meaningfullness of
our worship and the apparent
nebulousness of many of our
worship encounters in
America.”
From Capetown, he traveled
to Blomfontein, S. Africa and
on to Meseru, Lesoto. In
Meseru he assisted in the
dedication of a rural school in
Malte Phaneng which is jointly
See “S. AFRICAN TOUR”
Page 5
January 22, 1976 No. 42 2(Xt
Unjustified Holiday
Reprinted from
The Augusta Chronicle - January IS, 1976
Memorial services are scheduled to be held today
throughout the Nation in honor of the birthday of slain
Black leader Martin Luther King. This is quite
understandable in light of the national following Dr.
King had as the head of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference, but we look askance at demands
by some lawmakers in the Georgia and South Carolina
legislatures, in the legislatures of the other 48 states, and
in the U.S. Congress to designate today a state and
national holiday in remembrance of King.
In the “buildup” which the late Black leader has
received from large segments of the media, uninformed
Americans have been told that Martin Luther King was
an apostle of peace who went into many an American
community to promote bonds of understanding
between the white and Black races.
Dr. King’s record, however, was just the opposite.
Before he was assassinated in 1968, he increased
tensions, hate, suspicion and bitterness that are still
taking the people of the South- both white and Black -
years to wipe out
In Albany, Ga., in the early 1960’5, the Nobel Peaee
Prize winner showed the same callous disregard for
peace where the net result of hundreds of law violalfons
by King-incited “civil rights” workers was hate hate
between the races where it had not existed before. In
hundreds of other American cities, King’s influence
often stirred up singing, shouting mobs of “voter
registration applicants” who were, of course, denied
admission as a body into the registration office. And, as
usual, a false charge of “discrimination” was spread -
and the net effect was more hate.
Although Dr. King was a Baptist minister, he seemed
to surround himself with such men as Hunter Pitts
O’Dell, a former top King aide, and Carl Braden - both
men having been identified with the Communist Party,
USA. His close association with such enemies of
freedom further made a mockery of his claim to be a
“Christian leader.”
We can appreciate the desire of many Blacks to look
up to heroes of their race, but surely there are deserving
Blacks more worthy of remembrance than the late
Martin Luther King.
Shirley Chisholm Calls
For Disclosure Os U.S.
Angolan Involvement
After learning of reports
that a United States carrier was
spotted off the shore of
Angola, Congresswoman
Shirley Chisholm sent
telegrams to Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger and Secretary
of Defense Donald Rumsfled
demanding “full disclosure” of
UJS. involvement in Angola.
Citing a recent Senate vote
which blocked further aid to
political factions in Angola, the
Congresswoman warned that
continued “surreptitious
military activity will further
jeopardize relations between
Congress and the
Administration.” The House is
CSRA Arts Calendar
January 24
7:00 p.m. “Jacques is Alive & Living in Thunderbh9t*n
Paris" - T-Bird Dinner Theater
January 29
6:00 p.m. & Movie - “Sundays & Cybele” Augusta College
8:15 p.m. Augusta College Film Performing Arts Center
Arts
8:30 p.m. Fred Waring Bell Auditorium
Famous Artist Series
January 30
7:00 p.m. “Jacques Berl” - Musical Thunderbird Inn
T-Bird Dinner Theater
January 31
8:30 p.m. Atlanta Ballet Augusta College
Performing Arts Center
February 1
3:00 p.m. Atlanta Ballet Augusta Coßege
Performing Arts Center
February 6 Movie - “Catch 22" Augusta Coßege
Augusta College Film Performing Arts Center
Arts
February 13 Movie - “Lady Sings the Augusta Coßege
Blues” - Augusta Performing Arts Center
College Film Arts
February 14 “Love” Thunderbird Inn
T-Bird Dinner Theater
Please send all program announcements to Mrs. J.M. Hinton,
1318 Wallace St., Augusta, Ga. 30901.
scheduled to vote on a measure
similar to the Senate ban on
aid when the House resumes on
Jan. 19.
Mrs. Chisholm, an
outspoken critic of past
military involvement in
Vietnam, characterized the
State Department’s activities in
Africa as reminiscent of “the
steps which led us into
Indochina.” She added: “The
fact that the official position
of the State Department aligns
itself with the government of
South Africa, a nation which
promulgates apartheid, is an
insult to every Black in
America.”
