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The Savannah Tribune • Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - 3
SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY NEWS
85th Anniversary of the Founding of
America’s First Black Labor Union
Savannah named Playful City USA
On August 25th, 1925 the
trajectory of African American
and American history was
changed forever. On that date, a
group of Pullman porters
formed the Brotherhood of
Sleeping Car Porters,
America's first African
American labor union.
One of those porters, 99-
year-old Linus Scott, described
the job as “miles of smiles,
years of struggle.” This 85th
anniversary celebrates the life
and work of this remarkable
group of men.
The founding of the
Brotherhood was an important
milestone in the labor move
ment, which had previously
been all white. But more
importantly, it laid the founda
tion for the modem civil rights
movement, by proving that
blacks could organize and
achieve tangible results.
The Pullman porters
worked on the Pullman train
sleeper cars. They greeted pas
sengers, carried luggage, made
the beds, tidied the cars, served
food and drink, shined shoes
and were available night and
day to wait on the passengers.
Chief Warns
Zero-
Tolerance on
Speeders
Savannah-Chatham
Metropolitan Police Chief Willie
Lovett today announced his offi
cers will be increasing attention
on school zones with a zero-tol
erance policy toward speeders.
“That means we will be
ticketing speeders travelling
even one mile over the speed
limit,” Chief Lovett warned.
“We will have too many students
in concentrated areas for anyone
to be taking any chances.”
School begins Monday,
August 30, for Savannah-
Chatham County Public School
System schools and others in the
area already have begun.
Concentrating on speeders in
school zones was a top priority
in a meeting of school system
executives, area police chiefs
and Sheriff A1 St. Lawrence this
week. Chief Lovett pledged full
support from his department.
The Savannah Area
Regional Information Center,
which operates within the
SCMPD, reports that 17 acci
dents were investigated in school
zones in Chatham County
between January 1 and the end
of the previous school year in
June. No students were reported
injured in those, but four chil
dren were injured in accidents
during school hours in other
locations during those months.
A 19-year-old was struck by a
vehicle near St. Andrews
Academy on Wilmington Island
Friday.
Since they often worked 20-
hour long days and were paid
only $67.50 a month, they
depended on tips to make
enough money to support their
families.
Linus J. Scott, 99, is a
retired Pullman porter whose
personal story illustrates the
importance of the
Brotherhood: “We went
through miles of smiles and
years of struggle. The porters
were polite to the passengers,
so that would be the miles of
smiles, because all the times it
wasn't easy but they had to
smile anyway, because of the
way some of the passengers
would treat them. Some peo
ple were unkind and thought
they could do anything and
everything. The years of strug
gle, we had to raise a family,
because we have four chil
dren.”
“Miles of Smiles,
Years of Struggle” is the title
of a one hour documentary
film honoring the porters and
being released for home video
on this 85th anniversary of the
founding of the Brotherhood.
The film is based on inter
views with eight porters and is
narrated by Rosina Tucker, the
100-year-old wife of a porter.
Despite the poor pay and
working conditions, the
porters themselves were often
considered to be the best and
brightest of their communities,
many from small towns in the
American south. This image is
beautifully represented in the
pride shown by Paul Robeson,
playing a Pullman porter in the
film Emperor Jones, as he
departs his hometown for a life
on the rails.
The Brotherhood was
formed when a small group of
porters went to A. Philip
Randolph and sought his help
in the creation of a union of
porters. Randolph was the
publisher of The Messenger, a
newspaper that campaigned
for black rights. The union
struggled for twelve years,
even threatening a strike,
before forcing the Pullman
Company to agree to a labor
contract in 1937.
Pullman porter E.D. Nixon
was the instigator of the
Montgomery bus boycott, the
protest that brought Martin
Luther King into the civil
rights movement. But more
broadly, the organization of
the Brotherhood proved to
leadership in the black com
munity of mid-century
America that organization and
social protest could produce
change.
In the late 1960s, the
Brotherhood was absorbed
into a larger union. So the men
like Linus Scott, porters who
were members of the original
union, are now quite old and
few in number. A great, large
ly unknown chapter in
American history is quickly
fading from living memory.
Miles of Smiles, Years of
Struggle is available from Paul
Wagner Films.
The City of Savannah on
Wednesday was named a
2010 Playful City USA by
the nonprofit organization,
KaBOOM!.
KaBOOM! selected
Savannah for its outstand
ing dedication to play, its
commitment to children,
and its work engaging resi
dents in the planning and
design of playspaces and
playground equipment.
Savannah is one of
118 communities across 36
states to be recognized as a
Playful City community
for taking action for play
despite challenging budget
shortfalls. Nationwide,
funding for parks and
recreation programs is at
its lowest level in decades.
Playful City USA is a
national recognition pro
gram honoring cities and
towns that help improve
the health of their young
residents by providing the
time and space for play.
Each of the 2010 Playful
City USA communities
demonstrated creative
commitments to the cause
of play.
Last fall, KaBOOM!
joined the City of
Savannah, Home Depot
and hundreds of volunteers
to construct in just one day
a new state-of-the-art play
ground at the West Broad
Street YMCA. Receiving
the Playful City USA des
ignation gives Savannah
priority status for further
KaBOOM! playground
builds and grants, which
have totaled $3.7 million
nationwide since 2007.
Playful City communities
also receive signs, awards
and special incentive
opportunities from
KaBOOM!, and are includ
ed in a national media
campaign touting
Savannah’s recreation
opportunities.
Last year in
Savannah, 16,725 youth
participated in activities
organized by the City of
Savannah’s Recreation
Services Department.
Activities and services are
available at the regional
and neighborhood centers,
which includes after
school nutrition, tutorial,
computer labs, team sports,
cultural enrichment and
supervised playgrounds
with recreation games, arts
& crafts.
“We are very excited
to be recognized by
KaBOOM! for our com
mitment to addressing the
real threat of childhood
obesity by offering oppor
tunities for children to be
active,” City of Savannah
Leisure Services Director
Joe Shearouse said. “We
are proud to be selected as
a 2010 Playful City USA
community.”
The 118 Playful Cities
range in size and popula
tion, but are all committed
to increasing play and
physical activity by devel
oping unique local action
plans. In doing so, some of
the most innovative ideas
and cost-effective pro
grams are being developed
in Playful City USA com
munities - proving that
parks and play are more
important than ever.
“An extreme miscon
ception exists in our coun
try that play among chil
dren is a luxury when, in
fact, it’s an absolute neces
sity,” said Darell
Hammond, KaBOOM!
CEO and Co-founder.
“For decades, this
notion dominated our
actions and we continue to
see the damaging results: a
monumental lack of play-
spaces for children and
sky-rocketing childhood
obesity rates. Savannah
refused to adhere to the
status quo and realized all
children deserve a munici
pal commitment to the
cause of play. These 118
Playful City USA commu
nities serve as beacons for
the rest of our nation that
an investment in children
is an investment in our
future.”
KaBOOM! is a
national nonprofit dedicat
ed to creating great play-
spaces through the partici
pation and leadership of
communities. Its vision is
to have a playground with
in walking distance of
every child in America.
Employment Opportunity'
Production Assistant
Job Description: NY^x Vision Television of Savannah is
s&kitig applicants lor the position of Production Assistant.
PA'5 are responsible for the quality of the on air operations
of the newscast. Computer skills arc ;i plus Applicants
must l>e responsible selfstarters and able to work flexible
hours on a regular basis, interested persons should send
llicir resume using the Poniacl information listed, or marl
them to WJCJ ■ IV. 1000] Ahercom Street. Savannah, GA
3 MOP. Job Overview: Part Time . Salary: Hourly, lixperi-
erace preferred, hut not required. Shift; May vary,
Pro ail cfHnvii.wfcJ.com
Master Control Operator
Jab Description; New Vision Televjsidn of Savannah is
seeking applicants nr the position of Master Control Ope ra
in r. tixpdncnce is preferred, hut not necessary, Computer
skills art a plus. Applicants must be responsible self
starters and able to w ork flexible hours on a regular basis,
Interested persons should send or linx resumes to WJC1 -
fV, 10001 Abcrcom Street, Savannah, GA 31406. fax
91 2-921-22 18. JobOwiewifull lime. Salary: 8.00-9.00
per hour. Experience preferred, but not required Shift: May
vary. I mail i«jW. ( om
Author/Reporter
FOX 28 W'JCL TV in Savannah. GA is looking Tor an
outstanding person and stoiy driven anchor reporter loco-
anchor our Ifjpm news, The idea! candidate is skilled in
anchoring programs and specials and can handle a daily-
beat called t iovemrnent Source. I lie ideal candidate comes
with at least two years experience in anchoring and report
ing. Newbies need not apply. I he ideal candidate can easily
survey our beautiful Coverage area by going to
Wvvw.UicNfiisifl lsdutce.com to get a sense of our ffjfc&DMA
and a 16 mile access to the beaches Of Sybet? Island. Wc
cover portions of South Carolina and south of Savannah to
Brunswick as well as west to Vldaii#, GA, the ideal candi
date is well Versed in all non-linear editing and needs to
know what Qaartcl, IINF-S. and Vi/ R 'V can do for show
artd piece production We are looking for a unique story
teller who is aggressive and complete live as well in creat
ing tiewis packages this position calk for newsroom
leadership skills as well as representation of our stations in
public appearance*. Wo are a New Vision Television
station. Send vour DVD's to Michael D- Sullivan, News
Director, 1000] Abereom St.. Savannah GA 31406. You
nitty also apply on line. We prefer DVD'S NO CALI s,
WJCL F 0X28 is an Fqual Opportunity Em pi oyer.
FEDERAL LIFELINE NOTICE
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Qualifying customer* wfl wire at tertl SS.J5 per month. Service aclivalian lew may JjCi tw waived rf
you qualify for tank Lip assistance. Additional discounts ate available Tor eligible tesktents of Tribal Linds
you may be eligible for Lifeline and Link Up assistance if you Currently pari if ipate in a qualify, i ■ q pubtk
asslstiince program of other hvhst- satisfy the federal income requirements These requirements vary by state
To Ptreiw further information Jbwt the Lift-Imp and Link Up program. tJf Vedtnn WirrHess Jtf
800-924-0565 or go to wrii&nvwctessxBmdifeHnE.
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A LOCAL
GOSPEL MUSIC COMPETITION
AND GOSPEL CONCERT
Vickie Earnest
Winai^/TICKETS ARE ON sPugh
SALE NOW
PERFORMING WILL BE COMPETITION FINALISTS
Abug with Vickie Wirns mi Ernest Pugh
AUGUST 27™ 2010
SAVANNAH CIVIC CENTER AT 7:00PM
$30.00 GENERAL ADMISSION - $40.00 UIP SEATING
Tickets avaiahle at Civic Center Gok OMice & Lester’s Florist, Bull @ 37th St.
Contact Clarence “Teddf Williams-The Trison Croup - 912-220-7553
A Portion of Lho Proceeds will Benefit the West Broad YMCA!