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The Augusta News-Review - May 5, 1977 Walking With Dignity By AL IRBY Sickle Cell Anemia Versus Proper Diet This is an answer to a rash of critics, most of them were medical personnels, who have not thoroughly explored the therapeutic power of correct diet relative to Sickle Cell Anemia and other genetic maladies. I quoted world renown medical scientists, that stated “with the proper diet this killer disease could be cured.” Os course this medical expertise was not focused upon American medical associates, because American medical schools are inept in the pedagogical implementation of diet as an important facet of therapy. Dr. A.B. Raper, a famous medical epidemeologist made this interested observation: “That only 100 cases of Sickle Cell Anemia had been reported in all Africa between 1925 and 1950.” Now the germane question is why are their ancestors, numbering some 20 odd million here in America, are afflicted with the deadly killer? Malaria fever which caused nature to curve the cells to protect the Africans from the mosquito carriers has been controlled in Africa and here in the United States, yet American Blacks in a large percentage are afflicted or carriers. Dr. Raper was largely ignored in American medical circles, but eminent doctors working in Africa have recently demonstrated that our African cousins are indeed immune to the deadly anemia which claims the lives of so many American Blacks. In fact, one specialist on genetic disorders. Dr. A.G. Mrtulsky, claims the absence of Sickle Cell Anemia in Africans is surely due to the difference in diet It took the pioneering talents of researchers at the American Mind Institute in Pomona, New York, to put together the pieces of this medical puzzle. The head of this research team, Dr. Robert G. Houston, has isolated the factor in the African life style which protect Black Africans - and which could protect Black Americans from the ravages of Sickle Cell Anemia. And that factor is diet. It seems the kinds of foods eaten by African Blacks By Philip Waring and Mrs. Josephine Richardson RICH CONTRIBUTIONS TO AUGUSTA BY THE YERBY AND SMYTHE FAMILIES Heining, Tenn, may have its Haley Family, but Augusta, Ga. has its Yerby and Smythe Families. And the latter are wonderfully real and dedicated people World-famous Frank Garvin Yerby returns home to Augusta for his second visit. His participation (with the stellar class of 1937) should be hailed by the Paine College Family, the Augusta Community, the state of Georgia and thousands of others with elation and pride... Much has been written about Yerby’s history-making achievements in literature. His more than 30 novels have sold over 50 million copies throughout the world. And international recognition has been rightly accorded him as one of the great writers of all time we would wager to Dr. Julius Scott, however, that his forthcoming class reunion and honorary degree will probably be held by him in special esteem... BOOK DUSK JACKETS PROJECTED AUGUSTA NAME AROUNDTHE WORLD Years ago the faint-hearted asked: “Has Frank forgotten his hometown roots?”. The weekly column, “Going Places” in the NEWS-REVIEW, promptly replied NO! The insertion on the dusk jackets of his novels “Bom in Augusta, Ga. in 1916.. Educated at Haines Institute, Paine College and Fisk University” favorably projected these names around the world Hence, helping “Build Augusta” News was made on Frank’s 1975 visit to Augusta to see his Aunt Lillian Bampfield and others....He spoke at Paine College, Luch Laney High School with Dr. Ike Washington... He also offered Paine College some of his important papers. This is most important as the college moves forward to new heights ...To us this demonstrated solid and humane remembrance of his hometown roots....(still “Building Augusta”) YERBY CHILDREN MADE THE MARK Many young people and newcomers to Augusta know little of the rich heritage of the Yerby and Smythe Familiesln the short space available we would like to present a brief historic review.... There were three boys, Frank, Alonzo and Paul, and 'Elena, who was the oldest of the four children. Elena, beautiful and brilliant, was an honor graduate at Haines Institute and later received her undergraduate degree from Fisk University...To the delight of the Augusta Community Elena returned home to teach at Haines...She later moved to Detroit where she married Dr. Boddie. She is now deceased. Paul attended Haines and later graduated from the University of Illinois. Paul Yerby now resides in Detroit and is a successful pharmacist and civic leader. DR. ALONZO YERBY OUTSTANDING PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERT Dr. Alonzo “Lonnie” Yerby is recognized as one of the nation’s leading public health educators and administrators. He made history in 1964 when he became the first Black to win appointment as Commissioner of Health for the City of New York. A veteran of overseas service, he is now one of the top administrators at the School of Public Health at Harvard University. He also attended Haines, the University of Chicago and received his medical degree at Meharry. Their father, Rufus Yerby, was also member of an old-line Augusta Family. A professional hotel service supervisor, he also employed many young college men in the various laree resort hotels where he served as head bellman and supervisor. Mr. Yerby was greatly supportive and loving of his children. SMYTHE FAMILY DEDICATED EDUCATORS Frank’s mother was Wilhelmina (“Willie”) Smythe Yerby. And her sisters were Emily, Fannie and Louisa. Mrs. Yerby was a gracious and cultured woman who loved her children dearly. The three sisters taught in the Richmond County Public Schools for well over 115 years of highly skilled and dedicated service. There is today hundred of persons living who proudly boast of having been taught by one of the “Miss Smythes”. All four were graduates of Haines Institute and were personally supervised by the great Dr. Lucy Craft Laney when her institution was noted as one of the finest in the nation. The Yerby-Smythe Families are excellent examples of love and closeness of an American Black Family which paid off in good dividends of leadership and service among their children. PRAISE FOR TEACHERS The Yerby children always remembered, gave praise and appreciation to the scores of teachers at Haines, Paine College, Fisk University and elsewhere who helped mold their futures. Hence again, “Building Augusta” OTHER RELATIVES ARE ACTIVE Frank visited his aunt, Mrs. Lillian Bamfield and her husband, Allie in 1975. They live at Eighth and Hopkins adjacent to where the Yerby children were bom. Both are retired after long and fruitful service. She with Pilgrim Life and he from the U. S. Postal Black who helped Build Augusta Page 4 particularly the yams and cassava, which figure so prominently in Africa diets, contain a substance that can prevent, and cure the sickle cell gene from doing its damage, says the talented Dr. Houston. And at the same time, carriers of the gene still have the benefit of immunity to malaria. Houston’s team has discovered that yams and cassava are the world’s richest sources of thiocyanate, a substance composed of sugars and a cyanate molecule -a close relative of cyanide, the deadly poison. In these foods, however, the cyanate is in a harmless form, but still has the ability to prevent red cells from turning into those useless, mishappen “sickle” cells. Ironically, American medical personnel are reluctantly coming around to accept the great possibility of diet in treating many genetic ailments. Dr. Anthony Cerami and his associates at New York’s Rockefeller University was the first in America to discover in laboratory tests that cyanate, in drug form, will be useful against Sickle Cell Anemia. Dr. Houston reports that the amount of cyanate used by Cerami in his tests approximates the amount disgested every day by Africans eating natural sources of cyanate. And these Africans consume 40 times the amount of this chemical found in the typical Black American diet, which has become, with deadly results, the typical Black-American diet. BLACKS HAVE UNIQUE BIOCHEMICAL NEEDS Dr. Houston’s studies are indeed promising, offering the hope for one of our most deadly threats could be easily correctable by changes in the diet. Inclusion of yams and cassava, as well as millet and sourghum, two other rich sources of cyanate, would researchers feel, make sense. Unfortunately, little research, but lots of talk is being done in America to study the particular dietary needs of Blacks, even though so much past work indicates Blacks do have unique biochemical needs; needs which arose from living for so many generations in a tropical climate. Mail Service. Both are long-time members of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church. A cousin, Eugene Yerby Lowe, is one of New York’s top social service administrators while his brother, Frances, resides out on Long Island. The younger brother, Rufus, is a staffer at the Richmond County Courts and is an officer of Tabernacle Baptist Church. Two other cousins , Harrison Yerby and his brother, Timonthy,also reaide in Augusta. Hviijamin f X if. X. Hooks ‘ Com t i< ’ CBS’s Ed Bradley Leads the List In response to an article by the News From the Council, a quarterly publication of the Catholic Interracial Council of New York, Inc., the three national TV networks gave their side of the story. The Council’s article was titled: “Council Moves to Remove Network Color Ban.” Each network: ABC 1 CBS and NBC firmly asserted its support of affirmative action, declared it is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity and that, on company-wide basis, it is pursuing a color-blind policy of hiring the best qualified, etc., etc., etc., etc. Each also admitted the scarcity of black network anchor persons (only CBS has one: Ed Bradley, who is also a White House correspondent for that network), but CBS quickly added there are “a limited number of anchor positions”, in any case since each network has but one (ABC has co-anchor sports Harry Reasoner and Barbara Walters) during the week and a weekend anchor position the kind Bradley is currently filing. ABC said: “In addition to black on-air correspondents, current staff includes black producers, writers, editors and camera personnel, as well as members of other racial minorities.” CBS emphasizing ”... there is no discrimination at CBS News,” said “discrimination against Blacks and other minorities would be anti-thetical to what CBS News . . . (stands) for. The relatively long road to anchor work involves, as a condition precedent, extensive work for us and experience as a reporter." NBC declared: “Positions in NBC are filled simply on the basis of ability to do the job and candidates are judged by that standard alone, not by whether they are white, or Black, male or female. Until relatively few years ago, American society was so structured that very few blacks entered news organizations. Consequently, the available pool of seasoned minorities, men and women, in our business is still quite small. But it is growing, and we at NBC are doing all we can to speed the process under our affirmative action policy.” I am happy to hear the networks say they are making progress against insidious institutional racist exclusion policies. That it is institutional, does not make it any less painful, however. Ever since 1 have been with the Federal Communications Commission. I have jawboned about the discriminatory practices of radio and television in general and the networks in particular. Let me make this very clear: the FCC does not have jurisdiction in regulatory matters over the networks, only the individual licensees which may make up the networks. Studies show that 70 percent of all the people in this country look to TV as their prime source of news. The three individual news directors of the networks, thus, become czars. For on their decisions rest what we will see as news in this country, what in fact is news in this country. So, as the Council points out, and as I have done also repeatedly over the years - facts become national news simply by their selection for inclusion in the networks’ evening news broadcasts. Comments elicited by interviewers become news if they are elicited on the Today Show, the CBS Morning News, Good Morning America, Issues & Answers, Face the Nation, Meet the Press. In none of these do Blacks, despite the protests of good intentions on the part of networks, play a meaningful role. Before the horrendous civil disorders that swept our cities in the 19605, there were almost as many blacks and minorities in network and local TV and radio news as Eskimoes in the Sahara Desert. But the searing riots forced stations to find “qualified” black reporters - some of them working in on-professional jobs in their stations -- to cover areas where white reporters could not or would not go. Crisis, then, is the mother of invention. I believe the networks -- radio and television -- can find qualified blacks NOW if they decide to cast their employment nets in a wider arc. I believe that many network officials are sincere in wanting to bring more blacks, minorities and women into the industry in news producing, announcing (anchor v ' ‘'X ' I I Ki THE LEVEI Op FEAR IS SHOCKING MM "nw » 1 TO DAY. AND WE HAVE IT FOR OUR LIVES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN WORTH' jb I i LESS THAN WHITE ONES IN THE EYES OF OUR COUNTRY KV v F V .J&jr / AND OUR COUNTRY DOES \ NOT REALLY CARE ABOUT X z / THE CHAOS IN OUR NEIGHGOR H \ jT v / HOODS AS LONG AS THAT Vi / / ANARCHY DOES NOT SPILL \ zV I $ Vv X / / OVER THE LINES OF DEMAR- ’. f\V M / CATION. ' I WEHAVETODOIT A BECAUSE WE CANNOT ASH 1 OUR OLD PEOPLE TO /" SPEND THE REST OF THEIR LIVES PASSING THROUGH A GAUNTLET OF MUGGERS. TO BE EQUAL By Vernon E. Jordon Jr. Spokesman for Freedom To listen to the howls of some editorialists, you’d think Andrew Young has been making awful diplomatic gaffes. Actually, he’s only been telling the truth. The truth often hurts, and that accounts for all the heat America’s spokesman for freedom has been getting. „ . . , , ~K I When Young accepted the post of US Ambassador to the, UN, he said he wanted to be the Administration’s “point man”-to occupy the most advanced and dangerous positions. In fulfilling that role, he has said some things that are not popular in some circles, or are more usually said with so much caution that nobody gets the message. By gutting the doubletalk that usually infects public comments of officials, and by telling some home truths in a refreshingly open style, Ambassador Young is serving his Administration the country, and the people, who ought to involved in foreign policy discussions to a far greater degree. But what exactly is it that Ambassador Young has said that gets so many people upset? The most recent statement to unleash criticism was that the South African Government is “illegitimate.” . Now who can argue with that? What is morally legitimate about a white minority government that rules over a large Black minority denied any semblance of a stake in that society, lhe South African situation is simply not comparable to any other. There may be countries ruled by dictators which deny democratic rights, but such governments reflect the society they rule. In South Africa a minority white population rules over a majority Black population, which is compelled to be a cheap labor source, denied basic civil rights, forbidden the right to own property or to live in sections of the country, and even denied citizenship. South Africans who are Black are presumed to be citizens ot arbitrarily defined “homelands” and are treated as foreign contract laborers in their own land. In the eyes of the white government, they are not “South Africans at all. So how can a government representing 2.3 million people in a J,-— ■ Ti_ir POWER <&GIORY • ...*-U B y Q r G.E.A. Toote A Search for the Truth the Grand Jury A grand jury consists of 23 persons. Dating back to the time of King Henry 11, its purpose is to provide community participation in the administration of justice. Meeting in secret the jurors decide whether suspected criminals should be indicted and brought to trial. TWO TYPES The grand jury may hear evidence after arrest, and decide by a vote of at least 12 members that there is sufficient cause for an indictment and trial. Or it may investigate alleged criminal activity by subpoenaing and questioning anyone who may have information of wrong-doing. RUBBER STAMP In too many instances prosecutors are relying on insufficient evidence, or have intentionally misled witnesses into peijuiy charges when no other criminal act could be substantiated. Grand Jurors instead of serving as a buffer for an accused frequently become the instrument of the prosecutor. postions), and program policy-making roles, and end a shameful period of institutional racism. It’s a matter in some cases of putting their priorities in order. I intend to continue to argue and fight and fuss and urge that the matter of equal employment opportunities at all levels of the industry is a number-one priority item that has too long occupied a slow heat, back-burner position.' country of 26 million be considered legitimate? Why should an America newly concerned about human rights go along with the fiction of South Africa’s supposed legitimacy? Ambassador Young was right on target in his definition of that country’s government. Another statement that drew criticism was that Britain is “a little chicken” on race Well, the language may be a bit more colorful than that of most diplomats, but again, it’s true. Britain, from the hey-day of its empire to the present, has always exhibited a casual racism. Os course it is not alone in this; our own country along with many others shares this disease. Ambassador Young was referring to the Rhodesian situation when he said tiiat. Can anyone deny that if a Black colony declared unilateral independence and proceeded to defy legality and to subjugate whites, as Rhodesia oppressed its Black majority, that the British would have acted differently? And it could be healthy for the British to hear such truths from a Black American diplomat, since racial discrimination against Black and Asian Britons is a very serious problem. What are some of the other supposedly awful things Ambassador Young has said? That the Cubans in Angola are a stabilizing force? The President himself has agreed with that. ThaAmerica is often too concerned with communism in Africa? Well, perhaps we are. It seems absurd to have a policy of detente with Russia, to have high officials visit China, to trade with the Soviet bloc, and then to panic and cut off all relations with African countries that espouse Marxism. The real test should be whether such countries honor their agreements with us and to all appearances, Angola, for one, is protecting American oil interests on its soil. So why pick a fight over ideology with Africans, when we don’t with-Europeans? Ambassador Young has been outspoken. He’s angered some and gratified others.- But most important, he has told truths that needed telling, and he has brought foreign policy issues out in the open where they ought to have been all along. WITNESS PROTECTION The House Congressional Judiciary Committee is considering remedial legislation that will allow a lawyer to accompany a witness; require that a witness be alerted to the subject of inquiry before appearing; and the requirement of similar rules of evidence and procedure that apply at trial. In 29 states the prosecutor after an arrest is allowed to bypass the grand jury, and file charges in open court. This technique has proven less arbitrary to minority defendants. RELUCTANT JURORS Many people do not wish to serve on juries either for family reasons, or because they can not afford to forego their pay checks. Grand juries more represent a hostile, captive group of citizens, than a body of peers. INVESTIGATORY JURY The investigatory grand jury still serves a viable purpose, provided the rights of witnesses are protected. Unfortunately the time has passed in American when the prevailing view is that one is innocent until proven guilty. Black America must acquire the habit of expressing their concerns in writing to elected officials. Our opinions should be known on issues such as this. £ THE AUGUSTA NEWS-REVIEW '■< Mallory K. Millender .Editor-Publisher 5 Frank Bowman General & Advertising Manager Al IrbyNews Editor Mary Gordon Circulation Mailing Address: ;• Box 953, Augusta, Ga. Phone 722-4555 :< Second Class Postage Paid Augusta, Ga. 30903 $ SUBSCRIPTION RATES I 3 Payable in Advance J X One year in Richmond Countys7.oo tax incl. 6 Monthss3.so tax incl. $ One year out of Countysß.oo tax incl g ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT J 1 Classified & Display Advertising Deadline * 12 Noon on Tuesday News Deadline Monday 5:30 (printed free) i Z\ AMALGAMATED Jl.lejl tL PUBLISHERS, INC. ' ’C4* • CHICAGO A < Hi hl