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!Augusta, GA 30901
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AN OPEN FOhIJM FOR PEOPLE WHO CARE
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Vol. 7
Black Festival Fighting back
Officials call Property Owners
‘secret organization whose
motives are less than honorable ’
Augusta Black Festival
Coordinator Maxine Lanham
went before the county
commission Tuesday to
counter charges against the
festival made by Ira Davis,
president of the Richmond
County Property Owners
Association, who again
demanded that the festival turn
over its canceled checks to the
county commission.
The festival received
$12,000 in revenue sharing
funds.
Davis said after the meeting
the Property Owners would File
a suit within 30 days to force
OIC speaker may seek mayor’s job
Emma Darnell, speaker at
the OIC graduation Sunday at
Tabernacle Baptist Church,
here, has announced that she is
almost certain she will run for
mayor of Atlanta against the
man who tried to fire her.
In response to a question,
she said she was 99 per cent
certain that she would run for
either one of the positions.
Miss Darnell had only praise
for the present council
president, Carl Ware, while she
repeatedly lambasted Mayor
Maynard Jackson.
When he tried to fire Miss
Darnell on Feb. 10, Jackson
cited alleged “inept, negligent,
derelict, insufficient and
incompetent performance”
because of reportedly false
charges she filed against a
subordinate.
In the third day of an
unprecedented appeal of the
dismissal to the City Council,
Miss Darnell agreed to resign
and Jackson rescinded the
firing after councilmen sitting
as jurors halted the trial.
During a two-hour interview
with The Atlanta Constitution,
Miss Darnell accused Jackson
of being a “slave” to the white
business community.
She cited the Jackson
administration's award of the
midfield terminal contract to
an out-of-state joint venture
and Jackson's dismissal of
striking municipal workers and
employment of replacements
as examples of what she
termed the mayor’s
incompetence.
She said Jackson is booed
Carter proclaims
Black Press Day
President Carter proclaimed
Friday, June 17, as Black Press
Day, urging all Americans “to
reflect upon the contributions
of the Black Press to the
realization of the principles
upon which our Nation was
founded.”
The Proclamation was issued
on the occasion of the 150th
Anniversary of the Black Press.
The President also called upon
Americans to support the
' National Newspaper Publishers
Association “in its efforts to
assure that America’s Black
Press achieves its full
potential.”
The text of the President’s
official Proclamation states:
“The patriots who founded
this Nation understood that
P.O. Box 953
the commission to request the
checks.
Miss Lanham said the
Property Owners Association
refuses to reveal the names of
its members and that such an
organization is not public and
therefore “cannot be acting in
the interest of the public.”
Davis told The News-Review
that his oiganization is “not
secret” and holds public
meetings.
But he admitted that the
group’s membership list is not
made public for “obvious
reasons.”
When asked to explain those
reasons, Davis said many of
everywhere by Blacks because
of his actions during the
month-long strike and is a
“prisoner in his penthouse.”
She accused him of
‘‘weakness’’ and
“inconsistency” and of not
living up to tlie ideals he
expressed and promises he
made before he was elected the
♦ A
i I ii. i
I <
Mil
Roosevelt Green
Roosevelt Green receives
Penn State appointment
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
The Pennsylvania State
University has named
News-Review columnist
Roosevelt Green Jr., to the
newly created position of
assistant to the dean of the
Graduate School for minority
affairs.
Green has served since 1974
the enjoyment of the liberties
they fought to secure would
depend in large measure upon a
free and vigorous press. For the
past one hundred and fifty
years, the voice of America’s
Black Press in support of
individual freedom, dignity and
equality has served as a
constant reminder of the
importance to our society of
the cherished right of freedom
of expression.
“America’s Black Press
serves a population of more
than 25 million Black
Americans in cities throughout
the Nation and has been a
major factor in their
advancement. In a larger sense,
however, the Black Press serves
all Americans by
“our members are city and
county employes. If we made
our membership public,
officials would be hanging
from a garbage truck the next
day Stating that the festival
has been under constant attack
by Davis, Miss Lanham said
the festival’s board of directors
refused to produce the
canceled checks because Davis
“obviously started with the
premise that the festival's
board of and committee
members are dishonest.”
She said Davis has not given
any reason for wanting to see
the canceled checks and since
city’s first Black mayor in
1973
Miss Darnell came to city
government as intergovern
mental programs coordinator
under Mayor Sam Massell
between 1970 and 1974.
As administrative services
commissioner and the
highest-ranking Black woman
as minister at the Macedonia
Baptist Church in Harrisburg
and, since 1976, has also
pursued a doctoral degree in
community systems, planning
and development in the College
of Human Development at
Penn State.
In his new position, which
he assumed on June 8, Green
will be responsible to the dean
of the Graduate School for
recruitment and admissions of
minority graduate students. He
will implement financial
assistance programs which
specifically support minority
graduate recruitment efforts
and will coordinate
information on recruitment
and financial aid for minorities
with deans and academic
department heads.
A native of Athens, Ga.,
Merchants Who
Advertise In The
®lie Auguata Nrina-JReuietD
Appreciate Your
Business.
Patronize Them
Augusta, Georgia
large numbers of other local
organizations which received
revenue sharing funds have not
been requested by Davis'
organization to turn over their
checks, the festival's board of
directors suspects that Davis’
request is “less than
honorable.”
Davis told the
commissioners that an
investigation into the festival’s
use of the funds has disclosed
“possible irregularities and
abuses in the spending of
public money.”
The commission ignored
Davis’ request.
in Jackson’s administration for
the next three years, she was
the prime mover behind the
mayor’s efforts to bring
minorities into local
government.
Although testimony during
See “OlC’’
Page 6
Green is a 1962 graduate of
Paine College.
He received a master of
divinity degree in 1965 from
Morehouse School of Religion
in Atlanta and a master of
social work degree in 1969
from the University of Georgia
where he also pursued
advanced studies in public
administration.
At the University of
Georgia, he served as an
instructor in the School of
Social Work, chairman of the
School of Social Work’s
Minority Affairs Committee
and director of the School s
Augusta Area Learning Service
Center. He also held several
positions with the University's
School of Law Legal Aid and
Defender’s Society.
Green served for six years as
a social worker with the Youth
Development Center in
Augusta, an agency of the
Georgia Department of Human
Resources? -
He serves on the boards of
directors of the Pennsylvania
Council of Churches, the
American Baptist Churches of
Pennsylvania and Delaware,
and the Area Tricounty
Opprotunities Industrialization
Centers in Harrisburg. He is a
member of numerous
professional organizations
including the National
Association of Black Social
Workers, the Council on Social
Work Education, and the
Interdenominational Ministers
Alliance.
He and his wife, Lillie, have
four children: Susan, 14,
Cynthia, 12, Michelle, 10 and
Sharon, 6.
Rev. Jesse Jackson
ATLANTA, Ga. - A record
industry spokesman this week
called on the Rev. Jesse
NAACP says Andy Young
tells the ‘unvarnished truth’
she NAACP recently
extended its full support to
UN. Ambassador Andrew
Young, who has come under
increasing criticisms for his
comments on white racism.
In a telegram to Mr. Young,
NAACP Executive Director
Roy Wilkins said that tlie
Ambassador was speaking the
"brutal, unvarnished truth
about the role racism has
played in shaping America’s
institutions and attitudes.” A
copy of the telegram was also
sent to President Carter.
Also signing the telegram
were NAACP Administrator
Gloster B. Current and General
Counsel Nathaniel R. Jones.
The text of the telegram is as
follows:
“We think the American
people should be appreciative
of the fact that a spokesman is
talking sense to the world and
saying things which essentially
are true and must be said.
“You are speaking the truth
- the brutal, unvarnished truth
about the role racism has
played in shaping America's
institutions and attitudes. So
infected is this nation with the
virus of racism that it appears
to be a natural condition.
“Your reference to two
previous Presidents and their
attitudes toward racial
problems in this country is
essentially correct. We of the
NAACP tried to alert America
to the Nixon anti Black
strategy in 1970 Mr. Nixon,
by his appointment of strict
constructionist justices to the
Supreme Court, espousal of
benign neglect attitudes, the
use of code words separating
Black and white Americans on
school desegregation issues,
weakening of enforcement of
civil rights laws by
administrators in the Justice
Department. HEW and other
departments, turned back the
clock on racial progress. The
fruits of those seeds are being
bitterly tasted today by Black
workers and minorities in
search of decent housing.
This Nixon course was
followed by Gerald Ford as he
injected anti-busing rhetoric
into his Presidential primary
campaign in 1976. Your
aggressive efforts to improve
American-African relations
have certainly aided our
country in reestablishing
credibility with African
nations, and will, if continued,
immeasurably assist our
country if the President
accedes to your posture in
dealing positively and properly
with South African apartheid,
Rhodesian majority rule and
other Issues in the United
Nations over which our nation
has vacillated in the past.
“The simple fact is that you
are saying no more than the
National Advisory Commission
on Civil Disorders said about
white racism in 1968: ‘Race
prejudice has shaped our
June 23, 1977 No. 9
Jesse Jackson chided for
campaign against sexy songs
Jackson to halt his attack on
sex-oriented lyrics in
contemporary records.
Al Bell, board chairman of
Independence Corporation of
Am erica, asked Jackson to
“stop exploiting us for
personal gain” and “destroying
the little economic
independence we have left.”
Bell said if Jackson attacked
the disease rather titan the
symptom “then you will aid us
in saving our children and our
music.”
history decisively; it now
threatens to affect our future.
White racism is essentially
responsible for tlie explosive
mixture which has been
accumulating in our cities since
The Lion at Bay
Roy Wilkins in a year of crisis
&
Roy Wilkins
“Tin' Lion It /J«v
He looks considerably older
and heavier today than he did
five years ago. and his
handshake is somewhat weaker
than one might expect. Yet he
is extremely gracious in his
manners.
His office at 1790 Broadway
is plain and unpretentious. The
Freedom Award hangs on the
wail, and the Medal of
Freedom and one or two other
awards are positioned at the
rear of his desk.
He looks very distinguished
as he sits slouching slightly in
his highback swivel chair.
Although a shade under six
feet, he gives the impression of
being much taller. He is an
immaculate dresser, with a
penchant for vested pin-stripe
suits.
He speaks softly and his
hands play a dominant part in
his conversation. Most of the
time he sits with his legs
crossed, his hands alternately
gesturing and stroking the side
of his face. Occasionally, he
simply rests his head in his
hand propped against the arm
of his chair.
AGE A CENTRAL
ISSUE
Wilkins’s age has been a
central issue within the ranks
of the NAACP for more than a
decade. He personified what
the “Young Turks” called the
“old guard” as they
unsuccessfully fought to oust
him from leadership. The
question of whether Wilkins
was too old to lead the NAACP
simmered over the years until
Addressing a body of over
300 representatives of the
recording industry, Bell
challenged Jackson to “use the
talent God has given you to
assist us in obtaining total
freedom at all levels in the
communications industry,
particularly in the record and
radio segment because they,
along with Jet Magazine, made
and financed you.”
Bell was referring to the
record companies' sponsorship
of the annual PUSH Expo that
the end of World War 11.
“Black Americans are proud
of tlie fact that we have a
spokesman at such a high level
willing to speak the truth. We
hope that the enemies of racial
*-»«-x--»*-x-»****** ** ** **** ** ** «■**
Roy Wilkins will officially retire following the NAACP
Convention in St. Louis next week. His last year in office was
replete with crises-his defiant refusal to retire in January 1977;
two financial crises in Mississippi, one of which almost rendered
the organization bankrupt; and the reported crisis of transition of
leadership.
News-Review Editor-publisher Mallory K. Millender
interviewed Wilkins, his wife and national officials of the NAACP
between September and March. Those interviews combined with
much research resulted in his master’s project, “The Lion at Bay:
Roy Wilkins in a Year of Crisis.”
The following is the first part of a series of articles excerpted
from that project.
8 .-. M x*M*M**«s»«»**»******* e
January 1976 when it was
announced that he would retire
in a year. The issue resurfaced
in Memphis at the NAACP
Convention last July when
Wilkins announced that he
would not retire in January
1977. He stunned the delegates
by declaring that some
members of the NAACP Board
of Directors were carrying on a
campaign of vilification against
him.
“For the greater part of my
adult life every moment of my
time has been at the command
of this organization. I believe
that I have contributed in
making the NAACP a respected
and effective organization. I
believe that my conduct and
my posture have brought only
honor to this organization.
CAMPAIGN OF
VILIFICATION
“It was with shock then that
I learned of a campaign of
vilification of me,” he said,
started in December 1974, “by
certain members of the board
of directors, and continues
until this day.
“I suppose I should laugh
when one man says I am
dishonest and a hundred honor
me for my integrity. I suppose
I should laugh when a man old
enough to be my father calls
me feeble and unable to work.
I suppose I should laugh at the
stories about my falling out of
a chair, or a bed, or maybe the
Empire State Building because
I know they are the concotions
of someone who probably
fantasizes about many things. I
suppose I should laugh when a
man says that 1 have done
nothing for the NAACP and
the record belies his statement.
25e
Jackson heads.
Amid frequent cheers and
several standing ovations. Bell
proceeded to call upon FCC
commissioner and NAACP
Director-designate Benjamin
Hooks to “make a giant step in
the ‘advancement of colored
people' by causing the FCC to
cease investigation payola
practices and start investigating
programming policies and
hiring practices at radio station
and TV stations across the
nation.”
progress will not sway tlie
President from his support of a
spokesman who does justice to
the American cause in the eyes
of world opinion.”
I suppose I should laugh when
a woman who shows no
knowledge of good
administrative practices refers
to my administration of the
affairs of the NAACP as
‘horrendous,’ but how does
one laugh when his heart is
breaking?
“At the insistence of my
family and friends, I retained
counsel with a view to entering
suits in the courts against
certain board members for
defamation of character for
which counsel advised I had
adequate grievance. However, a
member of the board in whom
I have great confidence
persuaded me that such action
would be hurtful to the
NAACP.
“When I arrived in Memphis,
I noted that the Tri-State
Defender said that this would
be my last convention. And
indeed it may, for by the time
of the next convention I may
be communing with the saints
or arguing with the devil. But
so, indeed, may any one of us
in this room. Though we may
chart our lives, there is a wiser
power that alters the course.
“Many of you have asked
me to postpone my retirement
until after the St Louis, Mo.
convention in July, 1977. St
Louis is the town to which my
parents migrated right after
their marriage to escape the
awful postscription of life in
Mississippi St Louis is the
town where my wife of 46
years was bom.
“If God is wflling, I shall be
at the St Louis convention as
an active directing member of
the NAACP family. If the
See “LION AT BAY”
Page 2