New York Amsterdam News — 1963-00-00454

■ t rl r 10 • N. Y. AMSTERDAM NEWS, Sat., June 22,1 MEW YORK Amsterdam Netos^ C. B. POWELL Pretident Sc Editor P. M. H. Savoky, Secy-Treas. • J. L. Hicks, Executive Editoi W. a M. Cotentyl *. At Walt A4*artten« Dtrociorj K. M. Jackaoa, ri J. a Walter. CHj UHors S. W. Wate, ClaaaUlad Adw Brooklyn Published weekly by the Powell-Savory Corporation at 2340 Eighth Ave., N. Y. Telephone Academy 2-7800 Brooklyn .office, 1251 Bedford Avenue. Telephone ULster 7-2500. orpoi •ubacrtpuoo rate*: 1 year 17 00 — « MW ••lilt • Neutral The United States Supreme Court was on solid ground this week when it ruled in an historic decision - that the recitation of the Lord’s prayer and reading from the Bible as classroom devotional exercises .. ...is unconstitutional. Those who opposed the ruling are predicting that »»« it will lead this nation into everything from atheism •<"»«to paganism, and that soon religion in our way of life will be a thing of the past. None of this is true, and fairminded men who ,ujead the court’s decision can assure themselves of ..that by rereading it. - - • All the court has said is that the government .--'"must be neutral where religion is concerned. It simply has made clear that the power of the government can not be used to establish one form ■ -.of religion over the other. This was clearly the intent •• of the First Amendment to the Constitution. As to worshipping God, there is nothing in the court’s decision which changes in any way, the - desire or the effort of anyone to worship his God as he pleases. w •••* On the other hand there is nothing in the court’s ” ’’decision which says that anyone who did not worship God before the decision has to do so now. ILJ - ■ This is being neutral. This is as it should be. — Traffic Trap \ There is ah odious traffic trap on West 125th Street which we think the Police Department and , the Traffic Department should get together and eliminate. . It involves the turn of southbound motorists on St Nicholas Avenue who wish to make left turns into West 125th Street going east. At some hours of the day this turn is perfectly legal. At other hours (7 a.m.-lO a m. and 4 p.m.- 7 p.m.) it is illegal. -t Death Of A Salesman! The Last Hours Of Medgar Evers By SARA SLACK JACKSON, MISS. — I came here two weeks ago to write the life story of Medgar Evers. . .» Fate placed me here where I remain writing the death story of Medgar Evers. In life the NAACP field secretary was a husky hunk of grinning masculine charm, always curious • and always flattering. . In death his skin turned from its honey-colored tan to an eerie, pasty orange. His flashing brown eyes, that smiled whenever his mouth smiled, now are covered with eyelids that have turned to a blue hue. The slightly parted lips on the face in the. bier marked “Medgar Evers” have almost fallen from sight. What mouth is visible is spotted black and purple. In life Medgar’s face was plump, full and round, punctuated by neatly trimmed moustache. In death Medgar’s face is fallen, sunken and how A White Christian Looks At Muslims By FATHER WILLIAM MC PEAKE They have no concept of life after death and can be justly categorized as complete materialists. Muslims would have you believe that, by nature, that means all without exception, white men and wo­ men are vicious devils. They say whites are dedicated to the permanent enslavement of the black man and strive always to degrade and demoralize them. This is seriously and explicitly taught by Muslim leaders in their official publications. The Muslim concept of the non-Muslim American Negro is hardly more complimentary. In their racism and materialism they combine the worst aspects of Nazism and'Communism. Christianity they say is the “white man’s religion’’, part of the white man’s diabolic scheme to deceive and enslave the Black man, yet they use and “interpret” the Testa­ ment and recognize Jesus as a prophet. Their teaching on Christianity is blasphemous and self contradictory. Now my religious convictions are these. First God “He is like a dog — a watch dog”. Brainwashed is a spirit, the boundless, eternal good just creator of and trained by the whites—” you (the white man) can the universe. Jesus Christ is God made man the hang his mother on a tree and have his wife before Savior of all human beings by his loving self sacrifice his eyes and he will stand there whimpering with his on the cross. knees knocking and his tail between his legs”. (From an address by Malcolm X.) Racially He was Semitic, bom of a Jewish maiden mother in Palestine. His color was (if it makes a This is typical of Muslim teaching on the nature particis of difference) as far from the Nordic blue of the “white man” and the non-Muslim Negro. It is eved blonde as from the darkest Negro. His birthplace almost too disgusting and ridiculous a concept to merit was in the crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe, What makes this so odious, however, is (1) Most motorists who are turning are committed before rational reply. Suffice it to say, there are some The original Mohammed was white supremacists, no worse than the black variety, born in the year 570 He claim- they can see the sign; (2) At least two police officers, there are a few demoralized servile Negroes, but these «d to t* a prophet but he was a Neeroes deny their birthright of and most times three, are stationed in the middle false prophet who started an easy Christian faith, the chief source of the West 125th Street block during the hours it dregs of both groups are not the whole of either group. sinple religion and a warlike poll- of strength and consolation to The Muslim concept of religion is quite a hodge- is illegal to turn to catch the unwary motorist. their forefathers throughout the tlcal movement that attacked the r At times these officers have cars stacked up in podge of, racism. anti-Christianity and deification of long dark night of slavery, and Church of Christ and the civili- the most potent force in their a line as they painstakingly wave them over to the the “Black Man”. The Black man is Allah and Allah based on the teaching of ctvS^o^was strong 3^°?^ F^Twhat? ^antlT- side and as painstakingly write tickets for the |is God. Although they ape the Mohammedan doctrine Here’s what happened during the last two hohrs American K>f Medgar Evers’ life that changed him from an impish, good natured civil rights giant to a wasted, lifeless piece of multi-colored meat. I t I f- I i and dietary and ritualistic practices they are notin northern Africa before the,Uc fairy tale, told on officially recognized by Mohemmedan religious author- b)rth original Mohammed i supported aut ority of ities. It was destroyed in Africa south- Seated ex-convict? 'em Spain and eastern Europe byl (To be continued) the an un­ un­ Pulse Of New York’s Public The Amsterdam Newt welcomes letters on either Me of env subject It is preferred that letteri not exceed 250 words end nottt be. stoned. Namet wOt be withheld on request. No lettert can be returned. AU must be addressed to the tditor. ' ’ • en by the populace and the po- Analvsis lice; and jail'd In Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, in their attempts to assist the Negroes of the south to attain their just and equal rights through regis­ tration and the voting privilege. Please do not forget them in your several news items and your publicity media for the benefit of your readers and the general public. They are worthy of all the recognition they can get I know, I am a father of one of them, now in jail In Albany, Ge., on a trumped up charge of die- orderly conduct, participating in a prayer vigil before the Albany city Jail. | i \ Sir: An analysis of the racial upheaval across the country to­ day reveals that it is the be­ ginning of the final phase of the battle tor human rights in Amer­ ica. This battle is important for two reasons: 1. It probably repre­ sents the laet time that non-vio­ lence will be tried as an Instru­ ment for the attainment of civil rights. Negroes cannot indefinite­ ly absorb the blows and brutality of racists without retaliation, no matter what the consequence of such retaliation might be. 2. The present national and in­ ternational mood is such as to allow great concrete progress to be made this year, rather than symbolic tokenism, if the total Negro community commits itself into the supposedly desegregated University. The point cannot be made too often. More students will have to brave the loneliness of the formerly all-white Universities, more children must apply for ad­ mission to formerly all - white schools, and Negroes must apply in larger numbers for jobs for­ merly denied them and for serv­ ice at places which formerly dis­ criminated. - In short, we must follow up the “shock troops” and trail blazers — we must engage the enemy now. Time is short. We should have done this yesterday. If we do it today, we may survive, but tomorrow is too late. Clarence Funnye, Director Programs and Community Planning Leadership to take Judicial I •ctive participation in the re- sir: Before reading your aril- drivers. -Traffic signs, to our belief, are safety pre- -- cautions. And as such should be obeyed. But why, —’we wonder, is it necessary to station two, and most rtimes three (including squad cars), police officers in the middle of a block to catch people who have made admittedly illegal turns when it would seem XS- to be more sensible to simply station one officer at i«. «the corner in the middle of the street and have him direct the traffic. The latter situation actually exists only a block away at West 125th Street and 8th Avenue. So, why can’t it be established at 125th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue? Then the other officers who are now tied up daily during certain hours, waiting to trap unsuspecting motorists, could be re- , lieved of their odious assignment to switch their attention to more pressing duties in the community —such like catching thieves, and keeping the side­ walks free of junkies and winos and crap game? and other illegal endeavors. Or is this asking too much? •YAAavv. r»»' io »t Time Fop Strength ■ There is a sneaky, underhanded bit of legislative “ Action slipping across this Nation which needs to be Unearthed and exposed for what it is. And, it is nothing but a sneak attack on the Con- ' • -stitution of the United States and an attempt to tailor - and revise it so that the Constitution would eventually end up hot being worth the paper it is written on. The • whole sneaky business is wrapped up in three Amend- ments proposed by something colled the State *' Assembly of the Council of State Governments. In a nutshell, these three Amendments would: 1) revise "“Wr present methods of amending the Constitution so -"--as to permit-stateLegislatures to act on their own ’* without approval of Congress; 2) restrict the Federal *“ Court's jurisdiction in cases affecting the apportion- Went of State Legislatures and a) create a new “Court of the Union” with power to override decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. ------— Now none of this is new. ‘ ‘ T But what is new is the revelation that 11 states *“ fit the Union have already approved the first of these "Amendments; 12 states have approved the second of these Amendments and 3 states have approved all 8 of them! It is fantastic, but it is true. „ . When one notes that the highly respected Civil Liberties Union has stated that these 3 Amendments it passed might lead to the removal of such basic _ rjghts as freedom of speech, of religion and jury trial from the Constitution, the danger here becomes clear . and present. " We therefore urge our readers to urge their legis­ lators. both in the State and Federal governments, to adamantly use all the weight of their offices to cam- *...paign against these amendments and ultimately kill any attempt by anybody to write them into law. An Appeal Dear Sir: A solemn obligation of every Negro father in America should be felt for the children of Med­ gar W. Even. Not to feel such a sense of obli­ gation questions your claim to fatherhood; and your right to en­ joy the “fruits of his labor” for which he made the SUPREME SACRIFICE; and your reape bility as an American ci­ tizen! Thia obligation (a three­ fold; aa a father, as a Negro, and as an American. 40,000 Negro fathers giving 125.00 each would create a Mil­ lion Dollar Fund for the children of Medgar W. Evers. As a Negro father, I hereby make my contribution to such Fund. Sincerely yours, Joseph F. McMillan 427 Homestead Ave. Mt. Vernon. N.Y. Editors Note Reader MoMiUian’s check has been sen* to Mr. Roy Wilkins, Executive Secretary, NAACP. Excuse Please ! Sir: Re: We Get The Message. Melvin Tapley cartoon. The Am­ sterdam News' is timely and poignant, but it occurs to me to enquire whether Mr. Melvin Tapley simply overlooked the Students’ Non-violent Coordinat­ ing Committee or Just does not know that organization exists. They certainly should be included in that group of civil rights “fighters.” Nathaniel O. Harris New York, N. Y. Editor’s note: Amsterdam News Artist Mel Tapley and executive Editor Jimmy Hicks are stand­ ing in a corner In stark admission of their failure notice of the great work being done by the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee, it won’t happen again! Lip Service Sir: Reference is made below to the minutes of Painters Dis­ trict Council No. # meeting held the first week in June. While Mayor Wagner conferred with Mr. H. Van Ardsdale and Peter Brennan of the Building At some southern states and Construction Trades Council to open construction unions to colored people, Painters District Council No. 9 is quietly doubling Its initiation fee from 975 to $150. i havt Negro a poll tax to discourage voters, so obviously Painters Dis­ trict Council No. 9 under the leadership of Mr. M. Rsrbsck and L. Caputo hope to keep colored people out of their union effect­ ively, while paying lip service to equal opportunity and Integra tion. Since fines and suspensions are used freely on those opposing the double standard of D.C. and since the leadership controls most jobs I prefer not to sigh my name. My best wishes are with you and your efforts to improve the lot of thoee who need it so des- For Mr. Tapley. the Studenbs Non-violent Coordinating Com­ mittee, with headquarters in At­ lanta, Ga., and a field office in Albany, Ga., are in the front line of the battle for segregation, of­ ten spearheading the drives for the 9C3LC, the Alabama Move­ ment and working alongside CORE and the NAACP. Further, the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee is actually made up of students, some still in schools and universities, some already graduated. soc.v taking a year or two from their studies to emphasize their convictions for freedom now and it should be noted that there are white stu-jpeta'ul v. dents amongst thrir anuflft* rhe^ hsMw-k**^iarassed, beat New York Unsigned alization of these goals. jcle in the Saturday Evening Post It is our feeling that the vast i regarding “temper control, I should like to discuss leadership as It is In itself. Mr. Evers and Dr. King are indeed blessed if they recognize as their true leader their real self with which they are one with God, for they have found the coin of reality convertible into ali things needful both spiritua and material. majority of Negroes are not fully aware of these implications and are waiting safely on the aide- lines while the “shock troops’’ absorb the blows and enlist only tokenism from the slowly retreet- Irt whites. These people appear to be satisfied with merely an acceleration of gradualism. One has only to note that James Meredith still is the lone Negro at the University of Mississippi, that the two original Negroes at the University of Georgia who are soon to graduate have not been replaced by other Negroes in larger numbers; that even though no violence attended the admission of the lone Negro at Most of the controlling forces Clemson Cotiegc. South Caro­ of the various national channels lina’s educational rvstem is still of communication know the truth virtually totally aegrvSuied. Sev­ about true leadership seems to en years after the first Negro sir- be demonstrated by certain CBS and NBC television programs line hostess was employed, there and even by your article prev­ are still no more than two Negro iously mentioned, apparently de­ airMne hostesses in the whole signed to test and evaluate the country. real positions of the men and their followers In question on this very subject of leadership. If thia is so, contrary to pub lie opinion, ( while the world mourns the apparent loss of Mr. Evers, this is a time of great re­ joicing for them and for Mrs Evers who seems strating this in her T.V. appearances, under such trying circumstances. A few heroes venture out to blaze trails, and such trails are left unused, rendering any vie tory only symbolic and of short duration. If. for example, we had only two dozen Negroes to follow Autherine Lucy into the Univers­ ity of Alabama under the original court order which still stands, we would not now be trying to once again engage the Alabama mob to get two other students I am raising this question at this time in the interest of uni­ versal brotherhood in general and In the particular interest of the so • called Negro and all oth­ ers, especially In the larger cities who at this late hour, still seem to be in a spiritual coma Elizabeth Cooley Mt. Vernon, New York • • <k tapered to a hollow V-shape. j The only similarity, both in life and death, between the man called Medgar and the dressed up corpse in the blue casket is his crew cut hair style. In life Medgar’s hair felt soft and spongy. ’ In death Medgar’s hair felt like coiled wire shavings ready to crawl up my arm and strangle me at the. neck if I didn’t move my hand away from his forever stilled head. Ears Hid Five days before the assassination, some of us busy in the NAACP headquarters., here at 1072 Lynch Street, affectionately teased Medgar about his long hair hiding his ears. We reminded him that in two hours he would be leading a motorcade to the airport to pick up two beauties, Delta Sigma Theta’s Dr. Jean Noble and singer, Lena Horne. Snapping his fingers and looking at his watch, Medgar said: “Thanks for reminding me. I told the barber I’d be there by three o’clock.” The time was 3:40 p.m. Medgar disappeared down the stairs and returned nearly an hour later grinning his famous grin and holding his head for each of us to inspect. We playfully did. Then we piled into six cars and played follow the leader behind Medgar, on the way to the airport to get Dr. Noble, Miss Horne, Ted Jones and Billy Strayhom. - At the airport while he posed between Miss Home and Dr. Noble we heckled Medgar about the haircut he nearly missed as he tried to relax and not crack up with laughter before the cameras. Last Hours Shortly before 11:20 Tuesday night after delivering another of his fiery, “We Negroes in Jackson want equal opportunities now,” speeches, Evers was among the , last to leave New Jerusalem Baptist Church. He slid into his 1962, blue:, air-conditioned Oldsmobile. He carried an armful of NAACP T-shirts. Written on the backs of the shirts were the words, “Jim Crow Must) Go.” It had been a 100 degree'(Lay and he was in his’ shirt sleeves, carrying his coat. Evers called goodnight, rolled up his window and drove two miles to his home at 2332 Guynes Street in Shady Oaks, a suburban area of West Jackson. Evers’ home is in a neighborhood of neat post- World War II homes. A cluster of homes occupied by whites is less than a block away. Several of the persons who tolo police they heard the. shot were white. Medgar’s wife, Mrs. Myrlie Evers told this reporter that even though it was late she promised their two children, Darryl 9, and Rena 8, that they could stay up watching television until their father came. She said her husband told her that he’d try to get home a little early. —- “When we promise our children anything, we always keep our word if it is humanly possible. - Mrs. Evers told this newspaper: Turned on Lights "It was just before 12:30 a.m. Darryl, Rena and I were waiting for him. The baby had fallen asleep When I heard his car coming up the road, I turned on the light in the carport. I always do this. I might have aided the murderer in doing this because this silhouett­ ed his body in the blackness of night. "My station wagon was in the carport and my hus­ band parked his car in the driveway behind mine. If only . . . Here Mrs. Evers could not restrain her tears. She got up and walked away, muffling sobs in her handkerchief. Houston Wells, a neighbor, who lives next door at 2338 Guynes Street continued retracing events in the Murder of Medgar Evers, for this reporter. Wells, who keeps a revolver with him watched the Evers family whenever Evers was away. He was assisted by his brother, J.G. Wells. ‘I heard Medgar drive up. I heard him slarp his car door. Then I heard the single shot ring out. I looked out the bedroom window and saw Medgar’s body to be demon crumpled face down by the kitchen $Jeps. recent brave “Then I darted from my house, fired a shot in the air and began calling, help, help, help. I wanted to get people to get up and try to pin the killers in the area.’’But no one came to help but my brother, J.G. , “My wife was phoning police. Another neighbor came and helped me, a friend of ours, Willie C. Quinn from 2335 Ridgeway Street. “The police came almost immediately. I ran to Medgar. He had fallen face down on -thi# concrete driveway.” Wells said stamping the driveway sphere we stood. Turning he pointed to splotches of bldod. Wracking with sobs, he turned to the step and pointed to a large pool of blood which had dried in an almost perfect circle He pointed out smaller pools of blood which marked the route Evars had staggered and crawled to the steps of his kitchen door. “See there, he was hit about there and crawled up (Continued on Page 20) Untitled Document file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Administrator/Desktop/hello.html2/18/2007 11:01:03 AMThomas M. Tryniski 309 South 4th Street Fulton New York 13069 www.fultonhistory.com