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Vol. 6
President Elect Entertains
Black Childhood Friends
By Al Irby
A couple of childhood
friends accompanied Jimmy
Carter to church last Sunday.
They’re Black. “We grew up
with him,” said the Rev.
William D. Johnson, now living
in Atlanta where he edits the
AME Review, publication of
the African Methodist
Episcopal Church. His sister,
Mrs. Fannie Johnson Hill, said
the Carter and Johnson homes
were “close together” in the
tiny settlement of Archery,
about three miles west of
Plains. She said the Carters
always “had better relations
(with her family) than anyone
she knew, inspite of conditions
in the state at that time. It was
not easy (for the Carters), but
you could not tell it.” Mrs. Hill
said that the President-elect’s
mother was “very lovely to our
family”. “In fact”, she added,
“I think I wouldn’t have had a
son if it had not been for Miss
Lillian she was a nurse, and
she JKme to my rescue when
my doctor had given him up."
She said that her son, George
F. Hill, is now an Air Force
Lieutenant-Colonel stationed
in West Germany.
At services at Plains Baptist
Church - whose congregation
was nearly torr? aa trader two
months ago over the issue of
church integration - Carter said
of his guest: “They used to be
my neighbors out in Archery.
They were the most
distinguished family in our
neighborhood. 1 kind of grew'
up with them.” Asked whether
his two one-time playmates
will be attending his
inauguration two weeks from
Thursday, Carter replied, “I
hope so. They’re friends of
mine.”
In his book “Why Not The
Best?” Carter referred to the
Johnson family in his chapter
about growing up in Archery
during the Depression. He
wrote that social life in the
community - populated by 25
Black families, the Carters and
one other white family - “was
build around a Black leader
who was bishop of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church
for five or six states. His name
was Bishop William Johnson,
and he was undoubtedly the
most prestigious person in the
community.”
Bishop Johnson was the
father of Mrs. Hill and the Rev.
Mr. Johnson. “Each year the
bishop would invite us - the
nearby white people - to
Dr. Hamilton Gives
Powerful Address
Dr. C.S. Hamilton, the
Christian Crusader and
keynoter for the 1977 program
of the Lincoln League’s
Emancipation New Year
service, quickly struck out
right and left at the ills of the
Black Community, and the city
of Augusta. The learned pastor
of the historical Tabernacle
Church noted that Blacks in
America were not really freed
by Lincoln’s decree, they were
only loosed from forced
servitude. At that time the
ex-slaves kept a Biblical
command to “Keep Moving”,
but modern-day Blacks have
disregarded that divine truism.
Dr. Hamilton, just closing
out a huge program of
structual and interior
beautification of his Church
edifice was in a high religious
mood as he pointed out the
apathy of local Black elected
officials, and turning that same
condemnation at the Black
populace for not inaugurating
action, rather than always
waiting to react to other’s
P.O. Box 953
special worship services at the
Archery A.M.E. Church, and
superb choir would come
down from Morris Brown
College in Atlanta to take part
in the program,” Carter wrote
He recalled that one of the
Johnson sons Alvan, attended a
Northern College and violated
“one of the accepted
proprieties of the segregated
South by habitually (coming)
to our front door - my daddy
United States Senator Sam Nunn,
Elates Savannah Business League
Members, Given Standing Ovation
Speaking before the
Savannah Business League’s
Annual Awards Banquet,
United States Senator Sam
Nunn told the Black business
group members and friends
that he fully supports the idea
of increased minority
participation in the free
enterprise system. The Georgia
U.S. Senator cited his efforts as
co-sponsor of a bill with
Atlanta Congressman Andrew
Young which would streamline
and improve the efficiency of
all government programs aimed
at assisting minority businesses.
In his introductory remarks,
President Robert E. James of
the Carver State Bank, who is
also chairman of the minority
business group, called Nunn a
brilliant and resourceful
member of the U.S. SENATE.
The audience greeted the
Senator with a standing
ovation. The banquet was also
highlighted by the presentation
of the SBL achievement awards
by Savannah Aiderman Roy L.
Jackson. The nominees for the
1976 SBL New Enterprise
Award were R.L. Jordan, R.L.
Jordan Carpeting Contractors;
Nathaniel Carswell, owner of
Nate’s Formal Wear; Robert
Greene, proprietor Greene’s
Janitorial Service and the
Carousel Lounge; Walter and
Harold Singleton, proprietors
of the Looking Glass Lounge.
The winner of this year’s
award was Robert Greene. Last
year, this award went to Mrs.
Deloris Screen of Jean’s
Junction. The nominees for the
SBL Community Service award
were Dr. Clifford Hardwick 111,
Director of the Continuing
Education Program of the
University System of Georgia;
action. The former Dean of
Morehouse's School of
Religion, said: “Blacks must
find the keys of many racial
maneuvers, one to function
when doors are closed to them;
and must excel, not just be
as good as the other tellow.
Occasionally he would
expound from well-known
Biblical passages, such as :
“You are your brother’s
keeper”, and he decried the
fact that Black people will cut
each other to pieces.
Another key that Dr.
Hamilton brought to attention
was “we have lost our 1 racial
pride". which is shown by the
way we fail to keep our
communities clean, our
children are destructive. "Go
forward”, he stressed, inspite
of the many “Red Seas’. The
good clergyman sent the huge
crowd into religious frenzy
when he quoted the
well-known “Onward Christian
Soldiers”, closely related to his
theme, “Go Forward”.
would leave and pretend it
wasn’t happening while my
mother received Alvan in the
front living room to discuss his
educational progress and his
experiences in New England.”
According to Carter’s book,
“The most important event
which ever occurred in Archery
was the funeral of Bishop
Johnson,” who died in 1936
when Carter was 12 years old.
Preachers and choirs came
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UNITED STATES SENATOR SAM XI NN
Dr. Prince Jackson, president
of Savannah State and Rev.
P.A. Patterson, Pastor of Butler
Presbyterian Church and
chairman of tlie Savannah
Housing Authority. Last year,
this award went to Rev.
Lenton Powell, Pastor of
Speedwell United Methodist
Church and chairman of the
Board of the local Economic
Opportunity Authority. The
1976 winner was Dr. Clifford
Mrs. Pat Harris Well-Suited
For Secretary Os HUD
President-Elect Jimmy
Carter named Washington
lawyer, Patricia Roberts Harris
as Secretary of the Department
of Housing and Urban
Development, the first Black
woman to hold a cabinet post.
But for Pat Harris, being first is
nothing new. The brilliant Mrs.
Harris became the first, and
only Black woman U.S.
Ambassador when the late
President Lyndon Johnson sent
her to Luxenburg to represent
the U.S. in 1965. Being first
began quite early for the
attractive Mrs. Harris. Born in
Mattoon, Illinois, the
52-year-old attorney attended
public school there and in
Chicago before coming to
Howard University in
Washington. She was graduated
“Summa Cum Laude”in 1943.
After post graduate work at
the University of Chicago and
at American University in
Washington, D.C., she entered
Georgetown University Law
School. There she earned the
Juris Doctor degree, again at
the head of her class.
Sometime ago when her
husband, Washington attorney
William B. Harris recalled the
fact, Mrs. Harris said “Bill, I
could have done better.” When
he said, “You were first. What
more do you want?” She
replied, “I wanted to do
better.” That statement
revealed what could be
regarded as the driving force of
her character; the desire to
excel or to perform on a
superior level. And such have
been her attainments that no
Augusta, Georgia
from everywhere -- dozens of
his white friends from the
surrounding communities
attended the services.”
Mrs. Hill, the Rev. Mr.
Johnson and two A.M.E.
Bishops from Atlanta, W'illiam
Reed Wilkes and H.L Bearden,
visited with the President-elect
and Mrs. Carter at their home
before going to church with
them.
Hardwick. Last year, the
Savannah Business League's
Business person of the year
Award went to Benj. Polote,
President of Polote Home
Builders. This year, the
nominees were J.W. Lyons of
Lyon’s Realty; Ms. Edwina
Ford of Acme Insurance
Agency and Luther H. Allen.
Proprietor of Allen’s
Confectionery. The winner was
Luther H. Allen.
whites can reasonably quarrel
with her new appointment; and
Blacks are pleased with the
choice.
SHE WAS A
JKF APPOINTEE
President John Kennedy had
appointed her co-chairperson
of the National Women’s
Committee of Civil Rights in
1963. President Johnson,
whose nomination she
seconded at the 1964
Democratic National
Convention in Atlantic City,
named her a member of the
Commission on the status of
Puerto Rico in 1964. At the
turbulent 1972 Democratic
National Convention, Mrs.
Harris was chairperson of the
credentials committee that
refused to seat the late Chicago
Mayor Richard Daley’s
delegation. She has bem an
alleged member of the National
Democratic Committee, a
selection that is nationwide.
Her oustanding
qualifications have also been
recognized in the white
business professional and
educational circles. She is a
member of the Board of Chase
Manhattan Bank, IBM, Scott
Paper, Georgetown University,
Rockefeller University Council,
the 20th Century Funds and
others. Mrs. Harris was
professor. Dean of Women and
head of the Law School at
Howard University. She served
as a member of the U.S.
delegation to the United
Nations in 1966 and 1967 and
as a delegate to the 20th
plenary meeting of the
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Bishop Joseph G Coles (center), Bishop William I’. Hilliard with Taiwan Foreign Minister Dr. H.E. Shen
Chang-huan.
CME Bishop Among Black Clergymen Visiting China
“if any people is to become
free, freedom carries with it
the responsibility to become
disciplined. That’s the great
lesson I got from the trip,” said
Bishop Joseph C. Coles,
commenting on his recent trip
to the Republic of China.
He was the only resident
icoigiax. among ?. gsuep o f
Black clergymen and their
wives who went to China on a
goodwill tour at the invitation
of the government of Taiwan.
The delegation consisted of
four African Methodist
NCCJ Calls For Non-bias Membership Rules
NEW YORK - Regarding the
“recent flurry” over Attorney
General-designate Griffin Bell's
club memberships, the
President of the National
Conference of Christians and
Jews sav that the more
shameful fact is that “in every
major city in this country there
still are some social and
country clubs which refuse to
admit Blacks, Jews, Native
Americans, Puerto Ricans,
Mexican Americans. Asians or
women.”
Dr. David Hyatt, in a
statement issued from the
NCCJ’s national headquarters
here, said that although open
membership in social and
country clubs has a lower
priority when juxtaposed
against the needs of minority
groups for equal opportunity
in jobs, housing and education,
“It is nevertheless a shameful
practice on which the spotlight
of public opinion must be
forced until it is finally
eliminated. “Such elitist,
discriminatory’ practices have
no place in our American wav
of life,” he declared.
He called upon all social and
country clubs to change their
past practices and open their
doors to all Americans
Economic Commission for
Europe. Indeed, being a first is
something to which Mrs. Harris
has become accustomed to in
her illustrious career.
That career began with her
law degree earned at
Georgetown in 1960. There she
piled up an impressive record
of scholastic achievement,
including die John Bell Lerner
prize as first scholar in 1960
law school class; the John
Ordronauz prize to the second
year student with die highest
average, the American juris
prudence prize for the student
with the highest grade in
evidence, the Kappa Beta prize
for women, and the American
juris prudence prize for highest
grade in the course of personal
property. Being first is away
of life for Carter’s choice for
the secretary of HUD. What a
lady!
January 6. 1977 No. 38
Episcopal bishops (A.M.E),
four A.M.E. Zion bishops, one
pastor, and a general officer of
the A.M.E. church and Bishop
Coles, the only representative
of the Christian Methodist
Episcopal Church.
The Black church, Bishop
Coles, said, has a role to “cull
out of history and our
experiences with God” a great
sense of purpose - theological
as well as social and political.
African-Chinese relations are
not new. At the African
Museum in Taiwan, the Black
regardless of race, creed, or
color. Dr. Hyatt said that tlie
clubs should do so out of
resnect for the office of
President of the U.S., for Mr.
Bell's new position as the
“symbol of equality,' and most
important “out of respect for
the fact that such
discriminator}' membership
rules are ugly hangovers from a
distant past that this country
should have outgrown.”
Dr. Hyatt noted that other
clubs have taken steps to open
their membership doors and
cited the 1973 landmark
decision of the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks to
drop their 105-year-old
“all-white” membership rule.
He said that the Elks set an
example which the NCCJ
fervently hoped would
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Atlanta, Ga. John Lew is, civil rights leader and director of the Voter Education
Project (N EP), announces that he will resign the VEP post January 15, 19 <7 to run
for the United States Congress.
Lewis, who began a 19-vear career in civil rights in the nonviolent sit-in
movement. will seek the seat to be vacated by Andrew Voung,
Ambassador-designate to the United Nations and the Deep South s only Black
member of Congress.
With Lewis are his wife, Lillian, and their son John Miles. (Photo by Archie e. AUen)
clergy saw artifacts from
ancient African civilizations
dating as far back as 5,000
years, and maps of trade routes
linking ancient Africa with
China. “I’ve never seen
anything like it in the United
St tes,” Bishop Coles said,
“the fact that I had to go
8 060 miles from Atlanta to
see it was a little
embarrassing.”
Chinese officials now say
that China has evolved from an
aid receiving country to an aid
giving country. Taiwan is now
encourage other clubs to take
similar action.
Terming social
discrimination as “one of the
toughest and most poisonous
forms of covert prejudice
within our nation, the NCCJ
President pledged that his
organization would continue
its already vigorous efforts to
eliminate such practices
through its nation-wide
educational programs for
improved human relations.
He thus urged all NCCJ staff
and lay leadership, through its
network of 70 regional offices
and 200 chapters, “to make
every possible effort through
See
“MEMBERSHIP RI LES”
Page 5
giving technical assistance to
the African nations of Liberia
and the French Camerouns.
Africans are brought to Taiwan
for training in sugar refineries.
During the eight-day tour of
China, the Black clergymen
were treated to a State Dinner,
and met president Yen. Bishop
Coles presided over a session
with Foreign Minister Dr. H.E.
Shen Chang-huan and preached
at the Church of the Nazarine,
an American based church in
Tai Pei.
Mrs. Coles was most
impressed with a rehabilitation
center for crippled children
ranging from three months to
19 years of age. “They were so
gay, there w'as no feeling of
self-pity, though some of them
had hooks for hands. They
were happy to share their skills
and be accepted as they were.”
Both Bishop and Mrs. Coles
were impressed with the
cleanliness of the country and
the friendliness of the people.
“No matter how difficult
things became, everything was
done with delicacy, courtesy
and poise,” Mrs. Coles said.
The college students were
very interested in the Plains
Church controversy, and were
very happy to learn that the
church had voted to admit
Blacks.
Bishop Coles said he feels
that Taiwan deserves American
support.
The country’s
unemployment is only three
per cent.
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