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Che Summerville News
Educator Clemmie Black Shares Experiences
By LAURIE PERRY
Feature Writer
*
THOUGH CLEMMIE
Black retired from the Chat
tooga County school system in
1982 after 32 years of teaching,
she has remained very active in
the schools and the communi
ty. She admits, ‘‘Education has
been a way of life for me.”
February was Black
History month in the United
States. This veteran educator
took a few moments recently to
share her insights into the
significan*ce of*this i)ccasion.
“IT IS IMPORTANT that
we create an awareness of the
contributions of black
Americans. You would be sur
prised at the number of people
who don't know anything
about their history. Programs
that highlight these things can
be informative and entertain
ing,” she said.
“Unless we make our young
people aware of their history,
they will not know about these
{)eople and events. Most tex
books we studied did not
carry a phase of black history
and unless we make a special
effort this won't be done.”
Students should study
more about their past and the
many accomplishments of
black peoplein other areas and
time periods, she explained.
*“This is our hope because we
do not have the representation
that we need here.”
* * *
WHILE SHE was growing
up and attending school, there
were several black leaders that
she discovered. They became
her personal models of achieve
ment. These were Mary
McLeod Bethune, Booker T.
Washington and George
Washinfton Carver. ‘‘These In
dividuals were significant to
me" because they stressed the
importance of education. They
also made definite contribu
tions to our society,” she said.
Edwards Speaks To Local Schools About War
By LAURIE PERRY
Feature Writer
Andrew Edwards was sur
prised to discover how many
questions school children have
about the on-going war in the
Middle East. A native of Chat
tooga County, he Sfi:‘)ke with
area schools about his recent
experiences as an aviation or
dinance technician in wartime
aboard the USS America in the
Persian Gulf.
He discovered the children
to be curious about the
technology of the war. It seems
the children had been watching
the news and CNN'’s coverage,
because their chuestions were
informed and thoughtful.
Edwards is a member of the
BFA 86th :l(lluadron and
recently was allowed to leave
the ship and the war zone anl
return to shore duty in the
states.
His job on the aircraft car-
FLOOD
Support
Group Meets
The local FLOODS
support group meets at 7
o'cfl)ock tom'figt for those
with “‘Friends and Loved
Ones in Operation Desert.
Shi'ci‘ll(li.” :
e group is open to
the public an(f meets at the
First Baptist Church in
Trion.
The Rev. Jim Cordell
encourages those who
need to talk about the war
situation to attend.
Discusses Importance Of Celebrating Black History Month
Mary McLeod Bethune was
a black educator and founder of
a school for black girls in
Daytona Beach, Fla., that grew
to become Bethune-Cookman
College. She served as the col
lege president until 1942. She
was also the first black woman
to head a federal agency. Mrs.
Bethune served as President
Franklin D. Roosevelt's special
advisor on Minority Affairs
from 1935 to 1944.
Ml
BOOKER T. WASHING
TON founded and headed
Tuskegee Institute, a voca
tional school for blacks in
Alabama from 1881 to 1915.
He advised Presidents
Theodore Roosevelt and
William Howard Taft on racial
problems and policies. He
wrote a best-seller auto
biografihy “Up From Slavery,”
fiublis ed in 1901, to describe
is rise from slavery to na
tiopal prominence as an
educator.
George Washington Carver
received international recogni
tion for agricultural research.
Carver revolutionized the
agriculture of the south b
developing products from sucfi
groups as J)eanuts, sweet
potatoes, and pecans. He en
couraged Southern farmers to
grow these crops in place of
cotton, providing new sources
of income. Born the son of
slave parents, he worked and
studied and became a professor
at Towa State college in 1896.
He later taught at Tuskegee
Institute.
* * *
CLEMMIE BLACK has
spent her life stressing the im
portance of education to her
students in Chattooia County.
“Education has enabled me to
reach out and help other people
accomplish their goals, to make
suggestions on how they can
solve their problems.”
Originally, she wanted to
teach home economics for one
year after college and then
train to become a professional
seamstress. After she received
her Bachelor of Science degree
rier had been to load bombs,
missles and rockets onto the
fighter planes. The bombs
range from 500 to 2,000
pounds each.
For this task he and his
fellow technicians are known as
“red shirts.”” The red jacket
they wear designated their par
ticular responsibility on the
ship. Others wear yellow and
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Staff Photo By Laurie Perry
ANDREW EDWARDS TALKS WITH STUDENTS AT PENNVILLE SCHOOL ABOUT U. S. NAVY
He Recently Left War Zone As Aviation Technician Aboard U.S.S. America
Thursday, February 28, 1991
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Staff Photo By Laurie Perry
CLEMMIE BLACK, HOLLAND, HAS NOT SLOWED DOWN
Since Retiring From Chattooga County Schools
in home economics education,
she was offered a job teaching
at an elementary school in
Holland. “I realized I loved
working with the younger
children and I had my certifica
tion changed to elementary
education.”
Later she taught for 16
years at Lyerly Elementary
and is active as a substitute
teacher in that school today.
* * *
“AFTER ,ONE year of
teaching, I realized the great
need and I stayed for another
%rear. Each year I felt the need
o do more. I loved children
and I needed the work.”
After over 30 years of
teaching, she says, "I am a
are ros?onsible for the move
ment of the plane. The “green
shirts” take care of the tires
and the purflf‘-clad technicians
fuel the planes. This keeps
things organized and is an adF()i
ed safety feature. The yellow
shirts, for example, are the on
ly ones that can direct or guide
the plane’s movement aboard
the carrier, he explained.
1-B
firm believer that children
don't fail, teachers fail.”” You
really have to stimulate a stu
dent to want to do well and
grasp the subject. Each child
has his own way of learning;
what works for one will not
work for another. A good
teacher meets the child where
he is and helps him reach his
goals.”
SHE ADDED that the
basic ingredient in teaching is
love. “Love is what helps you
accomplish this difficult task,”
said Mrs. Black. . 3
“Many of the students I
have taught are teaching to
day. Others have gone.into
fields and reached greater
It takes only 15 minutes to
fully arm the plane with the
bombs. Six men are required to
lift them and secure them on
their hooks.
A student asked if the
bombs would explode if drop
ped accidently. Edwards ex
glained that the bombs must
e activated or electrically
primed and then dropped at
' Features/News l
heights than I imagined.”
The desire to be a
seamstress has not been com
pletely forgotten. In the even
ings, she said she enjoys sew
ing clothes, crocheting or
quilting.
In addition to teaching,
Mrs. Black is a member of the
Chattoo%a County Library
board of directors and the
board of the Department of
Family and Children Services.
She af’so manages the voting
box for the Colcfwater precinct
at Holland, wllere sixe lives.
*
wet WHEN SHE IS not busy
with these responsibilities, she
may be found taking an elder
ly neighbor to buy groceries or
least six feet before they ex
plode. He told the students his
crew once dropped a 20,000
Eound bomb and nothing
appened.
He said that loading the
plane not only requires a
strong back, but strong ears as
well. The planes are loud and
the wind is also potentially
damaging. The crew wears ex
to the doctor, delivering com
modity goods to needy families
through the Chattéoga County
Services, or helping a family
register for home energy
assistance programs.
She takes each of these
roles very seriously, and they
complement her work in educa
tion. ‘“‘The library is wonder
ful,” she said. ‘*Unless you use
your library you miss the
greatest part of your educa
tion."”
AND AS POLL manager in
her community, she en
courages everyone to vote.
“Everyone of age needs to
register and exercise the right
to vote. Voting is everyone's
right. It is as if you are deny
ing your citizenship when you
fail to vote. I always explain to
people that if someone you
don'’t care for is nominated for
an office and you do not vote,
you are actually voting for that
person,”’ said Mrs. Black.
Mrs. Black has seen many
sides of Chattooga County
through her participation in
community service and the
school systems. During her life
she has seen civil rights
become more than a dream and
at times, less than reality.
*I can remember the racial
tension long before the 19605,"”
she said. She remembers vivid
ly going to the drug stores in
Summerville as a child, for ice
cream and not being allowed to
be served inside the stores. She
has memories of standing at
the back doors of restaurants
to buy food and waiting for all
of the white people to pay and
be seated on the bus before she
could get on.
LATER AS A teacher, she
faced limited resources. She
realized long before the
Supreme Court, that separate
was not equal. ‘*We never got
new books; we were given
books that were used and worn
and then rebound. We didn't
have bulletin boards or any ex
tra materials. All we had was
a room, a blackboard, chalk
tensive ear protection to pro
tect them from the noise and
the 30 or 40-knot winds.
Since the war began, the
crew had worked 18- to 20-hour
days. ‘“We worked so hard we
dici,n't have time to eat and
sleep. Sometimes we go over to
a corner and try to sleep, and
we didn’t have time to go down
to the galley for food,"%\e said.
The aircraft carrier, U.S.S.
America, is the length of three
football fields, he told the
students. It can carry more
than 90 planes and some of
those planes cost more than
$35 nn}l)lion each.
He referred to the older
Elanes in use as the ‘“‘older
irds.” These are also used ex
tensively. “‘lf a plane received
a large blow to the wing, they
would not necessarily crash,”
he said. As long as the com
puter interior controls are not
damaged, the plane can be
repaired. In two to three hours
the “old birds” can be ready for
another flight.
There are no women on the
aircraft because it is in a com
bat zone and because it would
create “groblems on such a
small ship”’ explained Ed
wards. However, women are
serving in many other
capacities including in the
medical fields and on supply
ships.
After this brief break and
visit with family and friends,
he plans to be on ‘‘shore duty”’
for the next two years. He said
he feels ‘“‘very fortunate” for
getting to come home. It was
a pleasant surprise.
He has been on active sea
duty for the last four years.
Eventuallls', he will be enrolled
in the Naval Air Testing
Center in Mazland where he
will receive additional training
on the various planes.
Edwards joined the U.S.
Navy in 1987. He is the son of
Azilee Edwards, Summerville,
and the late Albert Edwards.
and an eraser. Anything else
we needed we had to buy
ourselves. It was difficult.”
There was also a different
salary paid to teachers depen
ding on their race. She said this
was changed in the 1950 s when
the Georgia Department of
Education equalized teacher
salaries.
SHE SAID THE change
took place because people were
becoming more aware, inform
ed and educated. Teachers’ pro
fessional associations were also
segregated and the black
organizations eventually began
to lobby for reform, she
explained.
*Things are certainly better
now,’’ she said, ‘‘but there are
many improvements needed.
We need black role models for
our black children. 1 know
there are black educators who
are qualified for administrative
positions. Our young people
often have noincentive and feel
they will not have the same op
portunities of advancement
that whites have.”
She added that Chattooga
County's school board
members are all white and
those employed at the central
office are also white. *'l hope it
will change,” said Mrs. Black.
“But I know it will be a slow
change. We have never had a
black principal in our system.
It is time to do something dif
ferent.””
CLEMMIE BLACK is a
native of Chattooga County
and today she lives on the same
farm in Holland where she was
born. Her parents are the late
Aaron and Gussie Ware
Adams. Her grandmother,
with whom she was very close,
lived with the family while
Clemmie was growing up. She
was a former slave. Though she
died when Clemmie was only
12 years old. her stories are
freshly planted in her memory.
“My grandmother taught
me how to cook. I learned to
measure ingredients using my
hands the way she did.” Mrs.
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Staff Photo By Laurie Perry
EDWARDS USES VIDEO PRESENTATION
Students Watch Program Intently
Chattooga 4H Receives
o 9
Local Soldier’s Letter
Fifth and sixth grade members of the Chattooga Coun
ty 4-H Club from the Summerville Middle School recently
sent letters and handmade Valentine cards to Chattooga
County men and women who are serving in the Middle East
as part of Operation Desert Storm. The following letter is
a response from Christopher E. Smith, of the Second
Marine Division of the U. S. Army.
To All the sth and 6th grade 4-H’ers:
I would like to thank all of you for the
cards you made and sent to me. I am also
glad you all stand behind us and love us.
We are currently close to the Kuwaiti
front lines. I can hear the bombs crashing on
Iraqi troops 24 hours a day. At night it is
like a giant fireworks show.
I hope I can come home soon. But I must
never forget that I am a Marine, and I am
ready to give my life in the defense of the
country I love so much.
The letters I get from people like you all
give me great strength and courage. You all
are what help keep us going. I just want to
thank you all again.
Please keep writing. I am sorry, but I
have to go on some training maneuvers. God
Bless You. The Marines in my unit salute
you.
Your friend,
Chris Smith
Black explained that although
her gran(rmother was blind, sie
was as accurate with her hands
as with a measuring cup or
spoon. Bl
“SHE WAS A favored
slave because she was such an
excellent cook,”’ said Mrs.
Black. But she also had stories
of hard labor in the fields and
beatings. It is through the
understandings of such strug
gles that encourafied the
strong religious faith of her
family to develop.
*About the only thing the
slaves were free to Xo was to go
to the church of their choice.
This became an important part
of their lives. Singing was also
important. They sang sacred
words to secular tunes. They
also sang the blues.” Mrs.
Black said she enjoys singing
in her church choir at Pond
Springs AME Zion Church in
Holland. *'l also sing quite a bit
when I get depressed. It gives
me consolation; maybe this is
a carry over from the days of
my grandmother,” she added.
MRS. BLACK serves as the
North Georgia District youth
director for the AME Zion
denomination. ‘lt is like being
a youth missionary,” she ex
plained. She offers instruction
and insight in how to help
young people understand the
role of tfie church and how they
can take a more active role in
serving their communities.
**Whenever I face
something that is complicated,
my faith in God provides me
with the strength to ac
complish things I need to ac
complish,” she said.
WHEN ASKED what her
greatest accomplishment has
been, she became very quiet.
Clemmie Black is a person who
gives careful thought to her
words. "I see my work in the
schools and my church as a
combined outreach to help
those in need. I get my greatest
pleasure in helping others.”