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- Walking with dignity -
■IB
Well, Black History month is upon us
again. Black Americans, and some whites,
will be telling the nation through the
spoken word and the mass media of the
highlights of Black Ameriacans
achievements. So here is an eternal
tribute to mother Africa.
Africa played an important part in
world progress for some five or six
thousand years or more. Africa lost this
leading role for two reasons.-The
expansion of the desert” cut off Africa
from the rest of the world” (except for
the Nile) and the African climate
reduced human incentive by providing an
abundance of food, and reduced capacity
because of /rampant diseases.
The truth undoubtedly is a good deal
more complex. For one thing, the Sahara
was nothing like the obstacle to
communication that so many white
historians assumed; On the contrary, the
trans-Saharan trade connecting North
Africa with the western Sudan, and
through the Sudan, with the Gold Coast,
continued on a large scale down to the
19th century, and indeed is still carried
on. The fact remains that although
Mother Africa lost its leadership, it did
not sink into savagery or barbarisim. On
the contrary, Black African cultures and
cultures led by mixed groups of blacks,
Berbers, and other dark-skined people
flourished in West Africa, Central Afruca,
and on the eastern coast until the 16th
century.
LACKING IN WRITTEN HISTORY
These black societies were known to
the Europeans of their day, and
knowledge of them disappeared in
modern times in part because they left no
concrete records. And whites tend to
assume that an absence of written record
means an absence of anything worth
recording. AsSr.W.E.B. Dußois once said
about how the white man treated
Africa:'' the white world which raped it
had to pretend that it had not harmed a
human, but just a thing. The history of
Black Africa was obscured by the
interpenetration of Moslem and Negroid
cultures during the Moslem ascendance
that ran from the seventh to the sixteenth
centuries.
SURROUNDING GROUPS
■’’’W
• iMr
Examination of racial barriers,
problems and shortfalls during the 1970 s
were thoroughly highlighted in hundreds
of black publications around the nation,
including the News-Review. And right so,
positive change comes about based on
factual information coupled with the
actions and involvement of others.
The thrust of today’s column is to look
at some of our existing resources. First,
we have Paine College, an excellent
four-year liberal arts institution, which
has developed a community outreach
program under its current president.
Founded in 1882 by Southern whites and
blacks, it has some 750 students, a staff
of 163 locally employed persons and
operates on a five million dollar budget.
The latter makes a significant item in our
local economy. An affiliate of the United
Negro College Fund, Paine observes its
centennial in 1982.
PILGRIM IN BIG TEN
Next comes our largest black-owned
business, Pilgrim Health and Life
Insurance Company. Organized in 1898,
Black enterprise magazine in 1978
pegged it as eighth among the 39 black
owned insurance companies. With 250
employes, $151,284,000 million of
insurance in force (1978), it is a great
financial resource in the Southeastern
states where it serves. As an example,
here in Augusta scores of our people,
refused elsewhere, were able to get
funding to buy or build housing.
BLACK CHURCH IS SOLID
The Black Church is our oldest and
strongest institution, with over 100
churches in the greater Augusta area. As
examples, Springfield was founded right
after the American War of Independence
and is preparing for its bicentennial.
Thankful Baptist and Trinity CME were
founded in 1844. Tabernacle has just
completed a $600,000 physical
improvement program. During the 1970 s
the Belle-Terrace United Presbyterian
Church was built and furnished at over
$300,000 and is a first for us in the
suburbs. Many of these fine institutions
Black history
in depth
By Al Irby
It is now accepted by some white
historians that much of what had been
considered the history of Arab or Moslem
or Moorish societies was really the history
of black and Negroid people. The term
“Arab” or “Moor” was applied to anyone
professing the faith of Islam. The large
proportion of Negroid blood among the
Berbers and other peoples of North
Africa is evident to anyone who has
traveled in the area. One of the greatest
figures in the development of Islam, for
example, was Bilal-i-Habesh, or Bilal of
Ethiopia, a liberated slave who became
Mohammed’s closest associate, and to
whom Mohammed yielded precedence in
Paradise. Zayd, another Black African
became one of Mohammed’s greatest
generals.
BRILLIANT BLACK OFFICERS
If Shakespeare’s Othello is any
indication, the Europeans considered the
Moors Negroid people. The main impact
of Islam on Negroid people began in the
11th century when a Berber army crossed
the Sahara and conquered the ancient
Empire of Ghana; It converted to Islam
the whole fertile belt; that strectched
icross Africa from the Western Sudan to
the hills of Ethiopia. At the time of the
Berber conquest of Ghana, that nation
was noted for its wealth throughout the
Arab world. After the conquest, however,
Ghana went into a decline.
CENTER OF ISLAMIC LEARNING
The next great empire to emerge in the
Sudan was Mali. Its history goes back to
the seventh century, but Mali became
important in the 13th century when a
Moslem convert, Sundiata, came to
power, and reached its apex in the
fourteenth century under Emperor Musa,
who ruled for 30 years. An Arab
geographer, El Bikri, who also was an
architect on returning from one of his
trips from Timbuktu made this statement
about the inhabitants of Mali:” They are
punctilious in observing the hours of
prayer, studying books of law and the
Koran. The women were of surpassing
beauty. All in all, El Bikri, who visited
every state from Africa, across to C hina
was “hog wild” over what he saw in Mali.
Going places
Use resources
to move forward!
By Philip Waring
have child care, youth and community
services. We are all hoping they will dig in
with us in a massive voter-registration
campaign which can spell the difference
in racial advancement and progress.
NAACP STRUCTURE AVAILABLE
The Augusta NAACP was co-founded
in 1917 by the late and beloved Dr. Lucy
C. Laney. It has an office at
Laney-Walker Boulevard and 13th Street.
Most important, however, it is linked
with the national NAACP Movement with
over 1,700 branches and many civil rights
lawyers and experts. It has existing
departments for housing, employment,
education and many facets of civil rights.
Unfortunately, unlike many other cities,
large and small around America, there’s
minimum help given the branch. Just 50
more persons coming in with active
volunteer leadership would make a great
start for the 1980 s.
The 1970 s saw the emergence of two
important cultural units: The
Mini-Theatre and the Black Festival. The
latter is the greater thrust in culture and
recreation. Let’s stay behind both. The
Bethlehem Community Center was
founded in 1912, and has rendered stellar
social service. Let’s not forget the Shiloh
Comprehensive Community Center.
Located out on 15th Street, its seven
acres represent the only land of its kind
owned by a black group. This agency has
great potential and we must not loose
that land.
BUSINESS LEAGUE AND HRC VIABLE
We have one of the best Business
Leagues in the nation. It has brought in
over $6.9 million in less than ten years.
Our Human Relations Commission,
charted by law for specific assignments,
reaches out to help minority projects.
This agency was especially viable when it
investigated the NAACP charge of city
job bias. The Augusta OIC is out there
offering valuable training for low income
residents. Hie Ad Hoc Citizens
Committee has just completed two years
service. It makes possible for planning
and coordination among our leadership,
while the Citizens Committee for
Community Improvement is getting set to
launch a voter registration campaign. It
will cooperate with the NAACP. There
are over 150 minority businesses in the
CSRA.
LOCAL CIVIC GROUPS
We now have such neighborhood
improvement groups as the Hyde Park
Association, the Laney-Walker
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I 0 i L/l PMM
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Neighborhood and Bethlehem Area
neighborhood associations, all under good
leadership. Another great resource is our
twelve Greek-letter units, the Masons,
Shriners, Easter Stars, Links, Women’s
Civic Club, Jack and Jill, coupled with
the various school alumni units. You’ll
agree we have the organizations, but the
problem is putting these resources
together on just two or three large joint
projects.
Let’s not forget our professionals. We
now have some 12 physicians, six dentists
The Augusta News-Review - February 23, 1980 •
and over eight lawyers. We’ve mentioned
the churdies and their ministers. Let’s
spotlight the more than 1300 persons
employed in various aspects of our
educational systems. MCG, Fort Gordon
and the various industrial and health
agencies furnish thousands of jobs for our
people. Altogether, blacks offer over a
$150,000,000 purchasing market in the
CSRA. This represents a great
contribution to the toal economy.
Wealthy ladies In ancient
Rome sometimes washed
themselves in a sugary mix
ture consisting of 20 pounds
of crushed strawberries and
two pounds of raspberries.
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