March Issue.indd - Library

The Lincoln Echo
PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
FORT SMITH, AR
PERMIT#240
We Report the News. You Interpret It.
50 CENTS
PP.O. BOX 771 Fort Smith, Arkansas 729022
Volume 22 Issue 3
MISSISSIPPI HIRES
COLLEGE PRESIDENT
Rodney Bennett has
been named the first
black president of a
predominantly white
university in Mississippi. The College
Board voted
Thursday
to appoint
Bennett as
the 10th
president of
the University of
Southern
Mississippi.
The 46year-old
Bennett is
the vice president of
student affairs at the
University of Georgia.
He was named the
preferred candidate
last week. Bennett
is telling campus
groups his first priority will be to improve
USM’s finances.
A Tennessee na-
tive, Bennett worked
earlier at Winthrop
University in Rock
Hill, S.C., and Middle
Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. Bennett holds
bachelors
and master’s degrees from
Middle
Tennessee
State and
an educational doctorate from
Tennessee
State University.
Mississippi’s three
historically black public universities have
had African-American leaders, but the
state’s five predominantly white public
universities have not.
Revive Us Again!
NAACP Launches
Membership Drive
The Fort Smith
Chapter of the
NAACP is looking
for new members to
bring energy into the
chapter. To that end,
a membership drive
is being planned. BE
WATCHING for the
date and time.
We want to let Fort
Smith know that the
NAACP is still here
and we are rebuilding
and need members
to continue to work
for the good of the
organization.
The membership to
the NAACP is $30.00
annually which includes a subscription to “CRISIS”
magazine. Youth
membership with
“CRISIS” magazine
is $15.—and without
magazine is $10.00.
We are planning a
“NAACP Sunday”
when pastors will
be encouraging us
to join or renew our
memberships with
the oldest civil rights
organization in the
country. Our mission is to ensure the
political, educational,
social, and economic
equality of rights
for all persons and
to eliminate racial
hatred and racial
discrimination.
Any questions please
contact Pastor Jerry
Jennings at 7851773.
REVIVE NAACP
WE NEED YOU!!
AIRMAN PROMOTED
Senior Airman Donice Toran in middle
Donice Toran was promoted to Senior Airman. She is the daughter of Donald and Valarie Toran, granddaughter of Hester Nation,
Charles and Callie Hubbard, of Fort Smith,
AR and Clarence Toran of Van Buren, AR.
I
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MARCH 2013
News You Can Use
What’s Going On
Editorials
News
Little Rock
2
3
4
5
6
BLACK HISTORY MONTH PROGRAM
The Fort Smith Alumnae Chapter of Delta
Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. honored the
winners of the Second African American Heritage Essay
Contest on Tuesday,
February 19th.
This year’s winners
are Racquel Dean, an
18 year old student
at Northside Senior
High School, granddaughter of Connie
Racquel Dean
Sheffield and daughter of Kanika Webster
of Fort Smith, AR;
Matthew Jackson, a
14 year old student
at Darby Junior High
School and son of
Brian and Roneka
Grooms of Fort
Smith; and Shameila
Jones, a 10 year old
student at Howard
Elementary School
and daughter of Ms.
Ujima Stewart of Fort
Smith.
The Deltas and
the Windsor Branch
Matthew Jackson
Library are in their
second year of
partnership for this
event. “The African
American Read-in
Program is a wonderful literacy based
program to highlight
the contributions from
various genres. With
this partnership, we
are hopeful that this
program will be an
inspiration to all as
we embrace the past
while building the
future,” expressed Janine D. Jamison, Fort
Smith Public Library
Branch Manager
and the first African
American Librarian in
the Fort Smith Library
system. Ms. Jamison
JUSTAMITE CLUB
AWARDS COOK
L to R Baridi Nkokheli & Darrell Taylor
was also mistress
of ceremony for the
program.
Ms. Janis F. Kearney, former diarist
to President Bill
to Write Home About:
Memories of a Presidential Diarist; Cotton
Field of Dreams: A
Memoir; Conversa-
Shameila Jones
Clinton, and editor
and publisher of the
Arkansas State Press
Newspaper founded
by civil rights legends
Daisy and L.C. Bates,
was the keynote
speaker during the
reception.Kearney is
the author of Daisy:
Between a Rock and
a Hard Place, a biographical memoir that
chronicles the life and
times of her mentor
and friend Daisy Gatson Bates – one of
the American South’s
most memorable civil
rights leaders. Kearney’s other books
include: Something
Janis Kearney
tions: William Jefferson Clinton, From
Hope to Harlem; and
Once Upon A Time,
There Was A Girl: A
Murder .
The second event
was held at the Main
Library on Saturday
February 24 and featured Tommy Terrific,
Magician, highlighting
George Washington
Carver. Mrs.Tonya
Nkokheli Soloist and
Mistress of Ceremony
AYERS LEADS
CHESTER TO TITLE
23 Simone Ayers
Simone Ayers
Jankelumas added
scored 20 points
10 points for Chester
as visiting Chester
(10-3, 7-0 OCIAA).
defeated Fallsburg
Nyasia Blakney had
48-33 on Thursday
18 pints, 13 rebounds
to clinch the Orange
and three blocks for
County Interscholas- Fallsburg.
tic Athletic AssociaSimone is the
tion Division V girls’
daughter of Gina
basketball title.
Stafford and the
It marked Chester’s granddaughter of Lincolnites Bernard and
first OCIAA chamAllene Stafford.
pionsip of any kind
since 1997. Kathryn
The staff of The Lincol Echo and its readers send Condolences to Mayor Sanders on the
loss of his mother.A memorial service is scheduled for March 14, 10:00 a.m. at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Oklahoma City.
.Those who desire to send flowers for the March 14 service may send them to St. Paul Lutheran Church, 10600 N. Council Road, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73162
Memorial contributions in Ruth Sanders’ memory may be made to a charity of choice or to St.
Paul Lutheran Church.
The ATS/Justamite Club Award
was presented to
Mr. Darrell Taylor for
outstanding community wide service. He
never complains and
always has a smile
and is always willing
to help in any situation that arises.
Mr. Taylor is a
dedicated cook and
News
Local News
Politics
Heritage
News
worker at the McGill Center on the
3rd Friday of each
month. He prepares
a delicious meal for
the senior citizens
and helps with the
Antioch Ministries
Grocery distribution.
The award was
presented by Baridi
Nkokheli.
7
8
9
10-11
12
F
o
c
us
AFRICAN AMERICAN
HISTORY 365 24/7
PAGE 2•The Lincoln Echo
NEWS YOU CAN USE
OUR MOST
PRECIOUS GIFT
By Vivian Cox
If you watch me, I will grow to magnificence and splendor,
I only need my world to totally surrender,
To stability, safety, solid foundations and love which would
Enable me to flourish.
Which can be characterized by your willingness To be truthful before we perish.
Don’t mold me into statues I see everyday,
For corruption and hypocrisy leaves in my nostrils A scent of decay.
I long to seek permanency and independence
Not by your mold, but by a newness of spirit,
Bathed in a glow of vivid spontaneity and merit.
I am wonderfully made; I touch silk, some touch fire,
The now, the beyond, this existence, I want to admire.
The guns, the crime is not what I want for my life,
Yet you portray me as one condemned to such agony and strife.
I have watched you long with your pretense of virtue,
What do you expect a rose – I ultimately must have nurture.
So, don’t judge me with your pious mental state,
This lump of unfinished clay has not completed its mold yet.
I am your son, I am your daughter.
NEW AND RENEWED
SUBSCRIBERS
Alvin & Mildred Jones Mountain View, CA
Lavon Davis Oxnard, CA
Emily Ford Rockwall, TX
Yvonne K. Martin Fort Smith, AR
Cassie Ingram Seattle, WA
Thomas Howard Van Buren, AR
Leo & Carolyn Good Fort Smith, AR
Mildred Stewart(Clark) Alma, AR
Ballie McCoy Alma, AR
James W. Billings Tacoma, WA
Annette Oliver Wichita, KS
Leon Thompson Fort Smith, AR
Mrs. Jerry J. Gloston Little Rock, AR
Robert E. Lee Vallejo , CA
Lois Palmer Grandview, MO
Jatawn R. Sneed Atlanta, GA
Derek Heath Todd Imperial Beach, CA
Duntae Bright San Diego, CA
Carolyn F. Blakely Pine Bluff, AR
William E. Perry Nashville, TN
Frances Feimster Fort Smith, AR
Maxine Brown Jones Alburquerque, NM
Tommy Thornton Fort Lauderdale, FL
Robay Stroble Spartanburg, SC
Rochel M. Guinn Fort Worth, TX
Gladys Walker Fort Smith, AR
Richard Foti Fort Smith, AR
David Harris Fort Smith, AR
Teressa Hawes Cambria Heights, NY
Shirley L. Porter Alexandria, VA
Garry Reese Fort Smith, AR
Connie Alexander Gallatin, TN
Sylvia Coleman Omaha, NE
Rhonda Hamm Fort Smith, AR
Ralph Porter Hot Springs, AR
Lurlean Scoggins Stamford, CT
Bessie Travis Fort Smith, AR
Erma Downs Kansas City, KS
MARCH 2013
YOUR THOUGHTS
TO US
Let me start by saying this:
Thank you Lincoln Echo Staff!!!
In your December Issue News You Can Use-The Bantu People-To my
surprise and shock!!! Those are the Roots I have been looking for.
The Bluford Family are from Roots of the Bantu People. My cousin
and I did some research and stopped-but you have the complete
History of my ancestors-just what I wanted to know! When Alex Haley
made the movie Roots after he traced his Roots, most Black people
wanted to do the same. I was one of those Black people. Now I can
make copies and send to my children. I also watched the TV Movie
Shaka Zulu and never knew he was part of my Roots. I am so elated
and happy! Let me end my note by saying- Thank-you Lincoln Echo
Staff and may God Bless All!!
Gladys Bluford Walker
Fort Smith, AR
I was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1920. I lived thee until I was 20
years old. I went to Howard grade school, then I went to Lincoln High.
My class was 1939. I would like to know how many of us are still living and where they live. Please let me know. I love getting the Lincoln
Echo! Keep it going.
Nancy V. Swarn
Atlanta, GA
Keep up the wonderful things you do. I would not know what was going on in Fort Smith if it wasn’t for the Lincoln Echo; such good information. Thank-you.
Susie Sneed Ransfer
Los Angeles, CA
I was visiting a friends house and saw your paper. I was impressed
by the heritage section, very informative, and the editorials. Keep up
the good work.
Jim Drum
Long Island, N Y
LOUISIANA
MEAT PIES
BACK BY
POPULAR
DEMAND!
FOR SALE
A TRULY
DELICIOUS
TREAT
Mount Zion CME
Church
ORDER BY
PHONE
910 North 7th St.
Fort Smith, AR 72901
$2.50 each
479-782-2100
ORDER BY
EMAIL
mountzioncmchurch
@gmail.com
CHURCH
SERVICES
SUNDAY SCHOOL
9:30 a.m.
MORNING WORSHIP
11:OOa.m.
FREE DELIVERY AVAILABLE
(479)-782-2100
BIBLE STUDY
Wed. 6:00p.m.
MARCH 2013
WHAT'S GOING ON
Echo • PAGE 3
AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD
By Allene Stafford
UAFS Symphonic
Band Concert
On March 14th, The
UAFS Symphonic
Band will perform selections ranging from
classic repertoire to
pastoral music to
lively tunes, including Ralph Vaughan
Williams’ most famous work for military band, “English
Folk Song Suite,” and
Pavel Tchesnokov’s
sacred work titled
“S Salvation is Created,” as well as
other classic works
from symphonic repertoire. Directed by
Dr. Alexandra of Fort
Smith UAFS director
of bands and assistant professor of low
brass, the Symphonic
Band performs two
concerts each spring.
The Symphonic
Band’s next performance will be April
16 at the Fort Smith
Convention Center as
part of UAFS’s Season of Entertainment
series. For more
information about the
March 14 concert,
contact Zacharella at
479 788 7972.
UAFS-Guest
Saxophonist
BrentBristow
On March 26th
Dr.Brent Bristow
of Arkansas State
University-Beebe, will
travel to Fort Smith to
perform a saxophone
recital. Bristow’s
visit is hosted by
Dr. David Carter of
Fort Smith, UAFS
assistant professor of clarinet and
saxophone. Bristow
is director of the
Department of Music
at Arkansas State
University-Beebe,
where he also serves
as director of bands
and associate professor of saxophone.
He holds a Bachelor
of Music Education
degree and a Master
of Music in saxo-
phone performance
from Arkansas State
University and a Doctorate of Musical Arts
from the University
of Memphis. He is
a former member of
the Memphis Saxophone Quartet. He
is an active performing artist, conductor
and clinician. Since
joining the faculty at
ASU-Beebe, he has
been featured in performances in Hawaii,
Texas, Georgia, Missouri, Mississippi and
Washington, D.C.
For more information
about the March 26
recital, contact Carter
at 479 788 7544.
Grants Available
for Programs
Serving African
Americans
The Arkansas Black
Hall of Fame Foundation in partnership
with Arkansas Community Foundation is
accepting proposals
for its annual grant
program now through
April 15th. Grants
will be awarded to
programs that benefit African-American
communities and/or
other underserved
populations in Arkansas through a focus
on education, health
and wellness, youth
development, small
business development or economic
development.
Organizations seeking funding can complete the application
form available online
at www.arcf.org
Grants will typically
range from $1,000
to $2,500 but may
approach $5,000 in
special circumstances. Funds from the
Arkansas Black Hall
of Fame Foundation
cannot be allocated
for adult salary support or to support
general operating
budgets outside the
specific proposal or
project. All geographic sections of the
state are eligible, but
scholarship request
will not be considered. Only 501(c)
(3) nonprofit organizations, hospitals,
public schools and
government agencies are eligible to
apply. Organizations
that do not qualify
for tax-exempt status are not eligible.
Priority consideration
will be given to: Applications that show
multiple sponsoring
agencies/organizations Proposals that
include evidence of
local financial support
(including, but not
limited to, in-kind
support)
Proposals that
demonstrate collaborative ventures among
organizations within
the community.
Proposals that
have promise for sustainability beyond the
period of the grant
Proposals that
show an innovative
approach to community challenges
The Arkansas Black
Hall of Fame Foundation aims to provide
an environment in
which a future generation of African American achievers with
Arkansas roots will
thrive and succeed.
The Foundation honors the contributions
of African Americans
through its annual
Black Hall of Fame
induction ceremony,
and awards grants to
support charitable endeavors in the Black
community. Learn
more at www.arblackhalloffame.org
2013 Scholarships
Available
Every year, more
than $50 billion dollars in scholarships
are given away to
students of all ethnic
backgrounds. This
number includes
many awards that are
given only to African
American students
and other minorities.
Such opportunities
are needed because
African Americans
continue to show the
greatest need in the
area of financial assistance. Even more,
the education gap
between minority students and their white
counterparts is still
very wide. This website was designed to
help African American
students find the latest scholarships and
grants that are being
given away by non
profit organizations,
government agencies
and major corporations. Most of these
programs aim to
assist disadvantaged
people who come
from poor families
and can not afford
to pay for college.
However, there are
also programs that
recognize and award
students who can
demonstrate excellence in education,
sports, etc. regardless of their financial
status.
Website is: blackstudents.blackstudents.
com
Sibling Authors
To Launch New
Product Line
Terry L. Raimey
(age 27) and Justin
(age 24) are set to
launch their 2013
spring/summer book
titles and product
line for their youth
entertainment company, Black Streak
Entertainment. The
spring/summer 2013
product line includes
products that feature original artwork
by renowned artist/
writer, Justin Raimey.
Products within this
line include art prints,
button packs, vinyl
stickers, key chains,
embroidered patches,
magnets, bookmarks,
t-shirts and female
tops, silicone wristbands and cellphone
charms. In order to
keep customers engaged throughout the
season, the products
will be added to the
company’s catalog
for customer purchase over the span
of the spring and
summer seasons
rather than being released in a single collection. Black Streak
Entertainment specializes in publishing
books and creating
gifts for kids, teens
and young adults
that are all about fun!
Black Streak’s goal is
to make the world an
awesome place by
offering products that
appeal to the young
and the fun at heart!
Shop for Black Streak
products at www.
blackstreakstore.com
Hardly Inferior Nor
A Burden To America
W. James Richardson author says that
there are plenty of
Significant African
American Achievements and Contributions that you have
never heard. He discusses many of them
in his educational
and uplifting book
Hardly Inferior Nor A
Burden To America,
where he opens a
new door to teaching
African American history. His book is rich
with chapters that
acknowledge African
American Achievements and reveal that
several former U.S.
presidents had Black
ancestry. Hardly
Inferior serves as a
prideful resource for
African Americans
and is an enlightenment for all Americans. His novels can
be reviewed and purchased at his website
www.ejamesrichardson.com
Zonta Club-32nd
Geranium Sale
The Zonta Club of
Fort Smith’s annual
Geranium Sale will
be 8am-2pm April 13
at Sagely & Edwards
Realtors parking lot.
Presale orders of
geraniums and giant
gold marigolds will be
taken through April
15th at cost of $27 for
a flat of 18 plants.
Geraniums will be
available in red,
dark pink, white and
salmon.
Call Kathleen King at
479-629-0689 or Lori
Bauer at 479-3532520 or contact any
area Zonta member.
Presale plants are to
be picked up the day
of the sale; individual
plants for $1.50 each
will be available for
purchase on site the
day of the sale Proceeds support local
and international projects that advance the
status of women. Local support includes
local scholarships for
women, Crisis Intervention Center, Girls
Shelter, Girl’s Inc.,
Single Parent Scholarship Fund, Esther
Home, First Impressions Workshop and
Career Fair for local
junior high girls. Site
address for this sale
is Sagely & Edwards
Realtors, 3101 Rogers Av., Ft. Smith, AR
72903. See Zonta
online at www.zontafortsmith.wordpress.
com
To spread the word
of happenings
In
Around The Neighborhood
Call 479 783 6830
Fax 479 783 6840
Email
linonews1
@sbcglobal.net
Editorials
PAGE 4• The Lincoln Echo
POE’S THOUGHTS
The academics
and politicians are
always appointing
commissions and
panels to study situations they don’t have
a ready answer for.
The political craze
across America is to
do away with unions
and privatize or do
away with public
education. The guiding reason for this
move is the same as
just about everything
these days, MONEY.
Certain segments of
the population see
education as a way
to line their pockets and impede the
advancement up the
ladder of success for
those not so well off
citizens..
The problem with
this hypothesis is a
study has already
been done and
the results are in.
During the fifties, sixties, seventies and
eighties so called
inferior students
attended inferior
schools, which had
inferior teachers.
Most parents of
these inferior students never attended
PTA because they
had to work. These
inferior students
graduated high
school. A great
many of them went
to inferior colleges.
After graduating from
these inferior colleges some of these
inferior students
attended prestigious
institutions of higher
learning for post
graduate degrees.
These inferior students returned to
their communities as
doctors, lawyers,
accountants, teachers, salesman, marketers, politicians
and various and
sundry other fields of
endeavor. The point
is they prospered.
IT HAS BEEN DONE
The obsession
politicians have with
privatizing or turning
schools into
student specialty
shops is over rated.
When classrooms
consist of students
from all social
strata’s, different
learning curves and
ethnicity’s inter
personal as well as
book learning occurs.
Education, like
healthcare is a right.
Education should be
available to everyone. The better educated our society is
the more productive
it becomes justifying
the expense of educating the public.
Knowledge is
power. This holds
true especially in our
modern capitalistic
society of the United
States. In order to
get a decent job that
pays well, the minimum requirement is
a bachelor’s degree.
African Americans
have certain fields
that we have
excelled in such as
music, entertainment, and sports but
the common African
American will not
be a professional
basketball player or
the next great movie
star. These African
Americans must
have another plan in
order to reach their
goals, which must be
accompanied by education.
The Civil Rights
movement along with
affirmative action
changed America.
Knowledge is power.
This holds true especially in our modern
capitalistic society of
the United States. In
order to get a decent
job that pays well,
the minimum requirement is a bachelor’s
degree. African
Americans have
certain fields that
we have excelled in
such as music, entertainment, and sports
but the common
African American will
not be a professional
basketball player or
the next great movie
star. These African
Americans must
have another plan in
order to reach their
goals, THAT PLAN
MUST BE BASED
ON EDUCATION.
We must not lose
sight of where we
came from and what
we have achieved so
far. America consists
of immigrants from
all over the world and
we are an integral
part of the history of
this country. Although
our forefathers did
not come voluntarily
to this country, we
are a part of the
fabric that defines
the country. We are
the United States.
Although at times we
seem to forget our
creed.
Let us put forth the
effort to bring back
the PUBLIC in public
schools. An educated
public is a productive
public. If our politicians will put country
before party we can
solve all problems
facing us. If the politicians remain partisan
then we must act.
We voted on a plan
of action during the
election. Let's implement it.
KB and D peace.
General Information
the Lincoln Echo, USPS 240, is published each month at 101 N. 10th in Fort Smith,
Arkansas. Napoleon Black is the Publisher. It is entered as periodic matter at the United
States Post Office in Ft. Smith.
SUBSCRIPTIONS PER YEAR: $25 per year nationwide. Single copy 50¢
POSTMASTER: Send all address changes to The Lincoln Echo, Our address is P.O. Box 771,
Fort Smith, Arkansas, 72902. EMAIL: [email protected] PHONE: (479) 783-6830
FAX: (479) 783-6840
Correction Policy
the Lincoln Echo will print corrections of any errors published in the newspaper. The correction
will be made as soon as possible after it has been brought to the attention of the Echo Staff.
(479) 783-6830.
Napoleon Black
THELINCOLN ECHO
Charles N. Chiles
Publisher
Operations Manager
Allen Black, Jr.
Charles West
Editor-in-Chief
Circulation Manager
Cecil M. Greene, Jr.
Allene Stafford
Executive V.P.
Office Manager
Kenneth & DeVaughn Black Inspiration
“The Voice That Brings the Community Together”
Established June, 1992
MARCH 2013
ALLEN’S PEARLS
PROMISES TO KEEP
like Plato compared
to his congressional
opposition ,which
is officially looking
From the global
resources of the
Lincoln Echo to
Mister and Mrs.
America, all the ships
at sea, planes in air
and trains on rails:
greetings!
What you are about
to read is neither,
local nor late-breaking. It is what I think
about a few things.
Should you disagree,
drop me a note. As
a matter of fact, drop
me a note either way.
We all make promises that we hope to
keep. At times, we
need help, but that
does not detract from
our sincerity.
In his State of
the Union address,
President Obama
mentioned “jobs”
forty seven times
so we know what is
on his mind. Most
of the media called
his promises middlerange thinking which
is long range compared to most politicians. He promised a
lot of common sense
about jobs, globalization, climate change,
the minimum wage,
immigration and
guns. This practically makes him look
effects of weather.
He will probably be
most remembered for
his nervous scramble
for that water bottle
which must have
been filled with Kicka poo joy juice. He
acted more like the
Barney Fife of the
GOP, polishing tables
of the Titanic where
only first class passengers could sit.
Keeping promises,
particularly as they
backward to "the
relate to politics,
good old days."
President Obama’s can be an iffy thing.
address did not come Think for a moment
how the idea relates
at an ideal time, but
judging from Senator to you personally. I
tried it to see how
Marco Rubio’s reaction speech, the
it felt. I wanted to
Republicans are
make and keep
going to do their best promises that my
to block anything pro- progeny and theirs
posed by the presiwould want to emudent – good bad or
late. The first thing
indifferent. The sena- that came to mind
tor Time magazine
was to never be or
touted as the savior
to support a hypocrite. I have kept
of the Republican
that promise as best
party repeated old
I could and hope to
words and ideas in
English and Spanish continue to do so
with all my electronithat will hardly be
cally enhanced heart.
remembered. The
The next promise is
good savior made
to stop when you are
himself look like my
unwelcome possum, ahead.
especially when he
said government can PEACE, GOOD WILL
do nothing about the AND BE WELL.
Remember to renew your subscription to
The Lincoln Echo
Effective January 1, the annual subscription
rate will increase to $25.
Contact us:
(479) 783.6830
[email protected]
DUTY & DUTY ATTORNEYS AT LAW
CELEBRATING 100TH ANNIVERSARY 2011
SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY - THAT’S ALL WE DO
DAVIS DUTY - FORMER SOCIAL SECURITY JUDGE
JOHN DUTY - DISABILITY ADVOCATE
479-785-3889
Toll Free 877-785-3889
909 SOUTH 20th Street
Fort Smith, Arkansas 72901
dutyandduty.com
MARCH 2013
NEWS & COMMENTARY
AN EDUCATOR’S
POINT OF VIEW
School Choice: Different Meanings to Different People
Conversations
among educators,
members of the
General Assembly,
media reports and
the public often
include the words
“school choice.”
Since these words
are used frequently
in different contexts,
it is understandable that a follow-up
question is often
required to clarify the
meaning.
The generic concept of “School
Choice” can have a
variety of meanings.
It may mean the ability to choose among
different schools
within a district, to
transfer between
school districts, to
choose programs
within a school, or to
participate in other
educational opportunities. Clearly all
of these have importance and are priorities to various individuals and groups.
For example, the
Fort Smith Public
Schools have
allowed “school
choice” transfers
between campuses
for at least a quarter-century. These
are approved under
certain parameters
including application
deadlines, space
availability and other
logistical concerns.
Several hundred students annually utilize
this option to select
a school campus
they would not normally have attended.
Most parents of
these students value
this option since it
allows them a measure of convenience,
responds to personal
preference and gives
them options concerning their educational experience.
Some use the term
“school choice” to
connote selection
of any number of
educational options
including
home schools,
charter schools,
private schools, virtual schools or other
“choices.” All of
these choices may
have merit under
the proper circumstances. Some of
these options may
do little more than
promote the segregation of schools by
facilitating movement
away from students
who may be different in terms of race,
religion, language or
economic condition.
Movement away from
an all-inclusive educational system in
which every student
is afforded access to
opportunities without regard to race,
religion, language,
or economics is
definitely contrary to
what the Fort Smith
Public Schools and
most other public
school districts promote. Caution in
these areas is definitely merited.
Another problem
arises when questions of accountability
and cost are raised.
Many proponents
of “school choice”
such as mentioned
above believe that
public funds should
be provided to allow
for optional and narrowly defined and
delivered educational
programs—often with
little or no accountability. These
same advocates
cite “choice” as a
concept which will
ensure excellence
through competition.
Unfortunately, choice
options are destined
to leave many students behind while
depleting the funding
and programs they
need for success.
Prudent local and
state leaders must
be careful to direct
scarce state tax
dollars toward educational programs
which serve all students, and which
provide a wide range
of opportunities.
These programs are
under the oversight
of elected boards of
education and have
the statewide scrutiny of the State Board
of Education and its
staff. Allowing the
use of public funds in
other ways under the
mantra of “choice”
is not to fulfill the
stewardship requirement public service
demands.
AFRICAN AMERICAN VETERAN
WRITES ABOUT HIS
EXPERIENCE WITH RACIAL
DISCRIMINATION IN SERVICE
Las Vegas –Author
Z. Jarone Batson
shares his life as a
Black American war
veteran. His debut,
titled The Life Experiences of World War
II, Korea, and Vietnam Black American
Army Veteran, is an
incredible book which
embraces a wide rhetorical discourse of
what shaped his life.
It touches race-related concerns which
occurred before,
during and after his
service in the military.
This book is a
product of the author’s research on
race and ethnic-related issues. Decked
with humor, this book
recollects Baston’s
experience in a brief
yet, in all respects,
complete manner.
The author divulges
his life in this eyeopening book as he
raises the issues of
racial discrimination.
A dip to the substantial memories
in his life, this book
adroitly
weaves Baston's
experience beginning in 1942. It vividly
chronicles accounts
of his experiences in
school, his decision
to enlist in the military, how he served
in six campaigns during the Second World
War while earning
h imself honors and
distinctions for his in
valuable service can
be followed in this
incredible memoir.
Where the grew up
in Jackson County,
blackk people were
con tent with being
referred to as colored
folks. How color managed to create a gap
and how he thrived
in a race-conscious
society are recorded
in most stages of his
life.
When morality comes up against profit,
it is seldom that profit loses.
Shirley Chisholm
Echo • PAGE 5
GREETINGS FROM
THE MAYOR
At the February
17, 2013 Cooperative
Tea, five outstanding individuals were
applauded for their
service to all areas
of the City of Fort
Smith. They are
Charolette Tidwell,
Rev. Jerry Jennings,
Patricia Copeland,
Rev. E.M. “Pops”
Smith Jr., and Rev.
A.J. Parish Jr. Each
of these people has
contributed countless
hours of hard work
and support for the
people of Fort Smith.
Congratulations to
each of these wonderful folks.
Our six new fire
trucks have arrived!
We now have two
100-foot platform
ladder trucks, three
1,500 gallons-perminute pumper trucks
and one 75-foot Quint
(a Quint is a combination ladder and
pumper truck). The
total purchase price
The Medal of Honor
was established as
United States (U.S.)
highest award for
valor by members
of the military during the Civil War, by
President Abraham
Lincoln.1 AfricanAmerican soldiers
and sailors earned
at least one Medal
of Honor in very
conflict fought by
the American military up until World
War II. During the
course of World War
II no Medal of Honor
was awarded to an
African-American,
despite the largest
combat participation
by African-Americans in the history
of the U.S. military.
The failure of African-American to be
awarded a Medal of
Honor during World
War II can be traced
to the military’s policy
of segregation and
institutional racism
among the military
command structure.
On December
21, 1861 President
Lincoln signed Public
Resolution 82 creating the Medal of
Honor as the country’s highest award
for valor by members
of the U. S. Navy.
In July 1862 President Lincoln signed
a similar resolution
granting authority for
award of the Medal
of Honor to members
of U.S Army. Originally intended only
for the duration of the
Civil War, the Medal
was established as
a permanent award
by congressional
action in 1863. The
Medal is awarded by
the President, in his
role as Commander
in Chief, in the name
of the United States
Congress. For this
reason the medal is
frequently referred to
as the Congressional
Medal of Honor.
for all six trucks was
$4,125,920.30. The
funding was made
available by voters
through the revenue
bonds approved in
the March 2012 renewal of an existing
one cent sales tax.
The three new
pumpers will replace a 29-year-old
pumper, a 21-yearold pumper and an
18-year-old pumper.
The two new ladder
trucks will replace
two 18-year-old
ladder trucks. One
of the older ladder
trucks will transfer to
reserve status for a
backup and additional ISO credit. Other
existing units will be
relocated into better
strategic locations,
helping keep insurance rates as low as
possible.
In addition to replacing aging equipment, the new trucks
will improve public
and firefighter safety.
We have an excellent fire department,
and we salute all
the great firefighters
and the terrific work
they do for all of our
citizens.
ROBERT BLAKE PIONEER
Over 190,000 African-Americans, both
freemen and runaway slaves, served
in Union military
forces in the Civil
War. During the Civil
War twenty-five African-Americans are
awarded the Medal
of Honor. The medal
winners would consist of seven sailors
of the Union Navy
and eighteen soldiers
of the Union Army.
The first Medal of
Honor to be earned
by an African-American is awarded to
a former slave, William Harvey Carney
Jr. A member of the
54 Massachusetts
Infantry, the Union
Army’s “showcase
black regiment,”
Sargent William H.
Carney Jr. is awarded
the Medal of Honor
for his acts of bravery and leadership,
including rescuing
the regiment’s colors, during the Union
Army’s assault on
Fort Wager on July
18, 1863. Severely
wounded during
the battle Carney is
discharged from the
Army at the conclusion of battle. For his
actions at Fort Wagner Sargent Carney
is awarded Medal of
Honor; on May 23,
1900, 37 years after
the Union assault on
Fort Wagner.
While Carney is the
first African-American
serviceman to perform an act that was
judged to merit the
award of the Medal
of Honor, the first
African-American to
actually receive his
Medal of Honor was
another former slave,
Contraband Robert
Blake. For his actions
aboard the U.S.S.
Vermont during a
battle on December
25, 1863, Christmas Day, Blake is
awarded the Medal of
Honor. Blake’s Medal
of Honor is presented
in a ceremony on
April 16, 1864. Sargent Carney’s is
presented almost 49
years, but since his
actions predates the
acts of all other African-American Medal
of Honor winners, his
is officially regarded
as the first earned by
an African-American.
Robert Blake was
born into slavery
in South Santee,
South Carolina.
In June 1862, his
owner’s plantation
was burned during a Union naval
expedition up the
Santee River. About
400 slaves from the
plantation, including
Blake, were taken
as contraband onto
Union ships and sent
to North Island in
Winyah Bay. While
on North Island,
Blake answered a
call for twenty single
men to serve on the
USS Vermont.
PAGE 6•The Lincoln Echo
NEWS & COMMENTARY
MARCH 2013
AROUND AND ABOUT LITTLE ROCK
By Wanda Hamilton
Carter Woodson
created “Negro
History Week” in
1926. It has evolved
into “Black History
Month”. In keeping with Woodson’s
vision, communities
across the country
continue to take
pause in February to
honor the achievements of African
Americans.
Many celebrations
too numerous to list
were held in Little
Rock including Open
House in the historic
home of Mrs. Daisy
Bates.
Among the activities
of note and recognition programs were:
The stage presentation “Gee’s Bend”;
Just Communities of
Arkansas’ Gathering
of Friends/Father
Joseph Biltz Awards;
The King-Kennedy
Awards Dinner and
the Governor’s Black
History Program at
Mosaic Templers
Cultural Center.
The play “Gee’s
Bend” is based on a
true story and follows
the life of Sadie
Pettway and the
women in her sewing
circle. They turned
to quilting to provide
comfort and creative
expression to their
lives. The play is not
about quilts. Rather,
the quilts become
the backdrop for a
much bigger journey. The characters
are meant to be a
composite of the
women in Gee’s
Bend, Alabama.
Many of the African
American women in
Gee’s Bend marched
across the Edmund
Pettis Bridge on
Bloody Sunday. They
drank from forbidden
fountains, quilted
out of necessity,
had children when
they were much too
young, and lived in
marriages with men
who were angry and
overwhelmed by the
world. The quilts they
created have been
called “Stunning” and
Miraculous Works of
Modern Art”
Just Communities
ofArkansas held its
annual “Gathering
Of Friends” program in the Darragh
Center of the Main
Library. Among
those receiving
awards were two
African Americans,
Dr. Estella Morris
and Dr. Billy
Thomas. Dr. Morris
has changed the
way we respond
to our homeless
military veterans.
Through her work
and her passionate
advocacy, she has
helped expand services to this vulnerable and underserved population
to include housing,
employment, successful reunification with family members, and re-integration into the community. She has
worked tirelessly to
make sure our veterans needs are met.
Dr. Billy Thomas
heads a staff of ten
at the University of
Arkansas
for Medical Sciences’
Center for Diversity
Affairs. He and his
colleagues seek
to create an inclusive
environment that
mirrors the diversity
of patients seeking
care. By creating
opportunities, reducing disparities, making room for a wide
range of perspectives: Dr. Thomas
wants to make
UAMS a leader in
promoting a more
diverse, inclusive and
culturally competent
cadre of health care
professionals...of
healers, and of listeners.
The Arkansas
Democratic Black
Caucus held its 9th
Annual King/Kennedy
Dinner February 19,
2013. A standing
room only crowd
attended the recognition dinner held
at Clear Channel
Metroplex Center.
Mark Edwards of
THV Channel 11 welcomed and Governor
Mike Beebe extended greetings to the
attendees. During
dinner, entertainment was provided
by Rodney Block
and The Real Music
Lovers. Those receiving awards were:
Mrs. Janie Cotton,
CEO of Professional
Counseling
Associates and is the
first African American
woman in Arkansas
to hold such a position for a major mental health organization.
The T.E. Patterson
Education Award
went to Jason
Hamilton. He is
Executive Director
of Arkansas
Commitment, an
educational and
leader- ship development program. Jason
works with African
American students
in the Little Rock and
Central Arkansas
area on life skills,
academic advising,
financial aid, and
community service.
The Upsilon Chi
Chapter of Omega
Psi Fraternity, Inc.
received the Annie
Abrams Community
Service Award for
their extraordinary
work in the community.
Judge Olly Neal,
received the Jerry
Jewel Government
Leadership Award
for his exempliary judicial work.
Recently he
was recognized
as Outstanding
Trial Juge by
the Arkansas
Trial Lawyers
Association.
The Calvin
King Economic
Development Award
was given to Roger
Ball. He is President
and CEO of Century
Industries, Inc. It is
the leading U.S.
based manufacturer
of folding attic stairways and is the largest minority owned
business in Arkansas
spanning 30 years.
Bishop Samuel
Green, Sr., Dr.
Rhonda Henry
Tillman and Richard
Mays, Sr. received
the President’s
Award. Bishop
Green is the
125th Elected and
Consecrated Bishop
of the AME Church.
He views the church
as a proponent of
change and works
to ensure positive
changes in the community. Dr. Rhonda
Henry Tillman is
a surgical oncologist specializing in
women’s oncology
at UAMS Medical
Center. She has
been awarded over
$14million dollars
in research funding
through the National
Cancer Institute
Center to reduce
health disparities.She
has been recognized
as a leader in cancer
diagnosis and treatment and honored as
one of the “Best
Doctors in America”.
Richard L. Mays,
Sr. is the senior
founding partner of
Mays, Byrd and
Associates, P.A. His
specialities include
corporate law, public finance, personal
injury, government
affairs and business/
law contracts. His
career path after
law school includes:
serving as a deputy
prosecuting attorney
in Pulaski County;
a former Arkansas
Supreme Court
Justice appointed
by President Clinton
during his first term
as Governor of
Arkansas; a member
of the U.S. South
African Business
Development
Committee under the
late U.S Commerce
Secretary Ron
Brown; and in other
positions of leadership too numerous
to list at this time.
He has however;
become one of the
most distinguished
legal counselors and
business executives
in the nation.
The Lifetime
Achievement Award
was awarded posthumous to Attorney
Christopher C.
Mercer, Jr. for his
decades of service to
the Little Rock community and beyond.
State
Representative
Darrin Williams introduced the speaker
for the event. Cornell
Belcher, President
of Brilliant Corners
Research and
Strategies and
fresh from his help
to create the stunning game plan
that brought victory
for Barak Obama,
shared his knowledge about the new
American political
marketplace. He was
a crowd pleaser and
encouraged collaboration and organization to get Democrats
back on track in
Arkansas.
Kasey
Summerville,
President of
Arkansas Democratic
Black Caucus
ended the program
by thanking those
that helped make the
event a stellar one
and those present
in the audience for
coming out to lend
support.
Black History
Month Celebrations
continue.
On Thursday,
February 21 The
Governor’s
Black History
Program took place
at Mosiac Templars
Cultural Center.
Governor Beebe
joined members from
the Department
of Arkansas Heritage
and Mosaic Templars
Cultural Center
in highlighting the
Arkansas African
American entrepreneurial spirit. In his
keynote address he
chronicled many of
the African American
citizens who have
contributed to
improving the quality
of life in Arkansas.
MARK YOUR
CALENDAR:The
Inauguration of Dr.
Johnny Moore,13th
President of
Philander Smith
College has
changed. It will
be held May 3, 2013
during the Alumni
Reunion Weekend
and National Alumni
Convention. The
dates are May 2-5,
2013.
Please contact
Rosalyn Hudson,,
501-975-8536 for
more information.
Andrews, William Wallace (c1817-1865):
Vesey, Denmark
At the age of four, William Wallace Andrews was given to Senator Chester and Mary Ashley of Little Rock, Arkansas as a wedding
present. Mrs. Ashley, who was of Puritan descent, gave him his own
room, taught him to read and write, and had him tutored with her own
children. Highly intelligent, he became their butler as well as a skilled
pianist, gardener, and cabinetmaker. He hired himself out and operated a furniture-making business, often in conjunction with fellow
slave, Asa Richmond. He was freed in 1863 and, after Little Rock fell
to Union forces, opened a school for freedmen, served as intermediary between the Army and black refugees, was ordained a Methodist
minister, and made vice-chairman of the 1865 Suffrage Convention.
Vesey was a resident of Charleston, a slave carpenter who had
acquired the money to purchase his freedom in 1800 by winning a
lottery. A leading figure in the city’s black church life, he “studied the
Bible a great deal,” a follower later remarked, “and tried to prove from
it that slavery and bondage is against the Bible.” But he also knew of
the rebellion in Haiti and followed closely debates in Congress over
the expansion of slavery into Missouri. In 1821 and 1822, along with
a group of Charleston house servants and artisans, he recruited rural
slaves for an armed attack on the city. But the plot was betrayed, and
Vesey and other leaders were tried and executed.
MARCH 2013
NEWS & COMMENTARY
Echo • PAGE 7
NEWS FROM L.A.(LOWER ARKANSAS)
By Erma Pondexter
The Texarkana
Arkansas School
District has been
challenged by the
Texarkana Coalition
or Racial Equality
(TCORE) concerning
the process of electing the next superintendent. TCORE
question the school
district’s policy as to
why the candidate
has to reside in the
State of Arkansas
as proposed by the
request for proposal. Three finalists
have been selected
and they are Becky
Kesler, one of the
district’s assistant
superintendents, of
Texarkana, Arkansas;
Bradley Gene Reed
of Bentonville, Ark;
and Dr. Sharon D.
Ross of Jefferson,
Texas. The views of
TCORE for an Arkansas candidate is to
provide for the selection of Kesler, who is
proceed as a torch
for the continuation of
continuing the practices that has been
occurring for years
in the school district.
A Black teacher was
fired and filed charges against the district
and won her case.
Minority students are
poorly educated and
very little individualized instruction. The
state of Arkansas
rated Texarkana as
one of the school that
has fallen below state
standards.
The Texas State
Constitution requests
a fair and efficient
system of funding
for schools. For
years, there have
been battles by the
legislature tries who
are trying to figure
out just what all of
this means. A judge
recent ruled that the
system of governing school funding
is still not right and
that the funding was
inadequate and not
distributed fairly.
The last legislative
session, there were
discussions about
cutting $5.4 billion in
education spending.
One local newspaper
stated the problem
in a very practical
manner and that was
that it is time for the
state legislature to
stop kicking the can
down the road and
fix school funding for
good. And Republican lawmakers in
Austin, Texas need
to stop any plans
to funnel more tax
money away from
public schools (and
into the pockets of
their wealthy supporter) through a private school voucher
system until they fix
the school system
the state is constitutionally obligated to
maintain and support.
This mess has gone
on too long.
The cities of Texarkana, Arkansas and
Texas leaders completed a three-day
Leadership Initiative
for Texarkana (LIFT)
Summit by vowing to
take concrete measures to continue
on the path toward
unifying both sides of
the state line. Several of the members
from both side of the
line was a little apprehensive about
the summit and was
questioning how LIFT
would be of benefit
but after a day of attendance, the body
agreed that it provided a means for open
communication and
to be honest and appreciate each other
and most importance
to address issues
that are of benefit to
the cities as a whole.
Soon and if not
tomorrow, we will witness guns in schools
churches and possibly at work. We
know that there are
those who have a
strong belief that gun
control is not really
an issue but rather
those who are in procession of guns. Our
country has produced
a mass number of
non-thinking individuals who are not
responsible for their
act as it relates to the
use of guns. A flock
of gunners are of
the belief that these
United States cannot
exist without having
control of the system
through the use of
weapons. Shooting
spree is not a rarity
in the U.S. Fifteen of
the twenty-five worst
mass shooting which
has occurred in the
last 50 years occurred in the United
States. Gun violence
is a regularly debated
political issue in the
United States. Gunrelated violence is
most common in
poor urban areas and
the murders of Evers
committed during the
Civil Rights era.
When will our children, especially
young black boys
understand that sagging is undesirable
and demeaning to
them as a race of
people? It appears
that there are no parents around and if so
they endorse the look
because if they were
aware of their look,
surely they would
not concur with their
appearance. Parents, are you aware
frequently associated that your child would
with gang violence,
be discriminated
often involving male
against when seeking
employment? Are
juveniles or young
adult males. High
you aware that the
profile mass shootschool system may
ings have fueled
have some negativdebates over gun
ism toward your child
while in class? Are
policies. In 2010,
here were 358 muryou aware that law
ders involving rifles,
enforcement may tarmurders involving the get your child more
use of pistols in the
so than others when
US that same year
the law is broken?
totaled 6,009 with an- And the list goes on.
other 1,939 murders
Please instruct your
with the firearm type
child to dress apreported. High profile propriate so as to be
assassination such
viewed as a handthose of John F. Ken- some young man
nedy, Martin Luther
rather than appearing
King and the Beltas a thug.
way sniper attacks
February being
involved the use of
Black History Month
rifles. Does not hisbrings back memotory teach us that gun ries when integration
control is very benwas at it peek around
eficial to our country
the country and there
and the betterment of were many issues
mankind?
related to discriminaThe Twin City Black
tion that affected the
History Association
lives of Blacks espewas honored with the cially in Texarkana.
Doctor offices and
presence of award
winning journalist
care were available
Jerry “Boo” Mitchell
for Blacks at the back
at their annual bandoor of the premises,
quet. Mr. Mitchell
schools for Blacks
was the Pulitzer Prize were on the other
finalist honors and
side of town and food
a book deal bean
was also served at
with the movie “Misthe back door. We
sissippi Burning” in
as a race of people
1989. Mitchell was
was annoyed with the
responsible for the
practice and begun to
investigation of the
boycott the facilities
1963 assassination of and decided to start
NAACP leader Merg- at the top by going
er Evers which led to to Lake Texarkana,
the arrest of Byron de which was a federal facility. Approxila Beckwith conviction in the death of
mately 100 Blacks
travelled from TexEvers on February
5, 1994. There were arkana to the Lake
two trials prior to
Texarkana which
Mitchell involvement
was located in anthat ended in hung
other county but was
juries. Mitchell’s
visited by everyone in
the Texarkana catchinvestigative works
eventually lead to
ment area. The lake
the imprisonment of
was approximately 15
four Klansmen for
miles from Texarkana
We’ve got to clear some of the room
out of the prisons so we can put
the bad guys in there, like the pedophiles
and the politicians.
and where there was
only one designated
area for Blacks to
visit. We decided to
go to the most popular area where others were swimming
and skiing. The area
was quickly vacated
by other and we
filled the void. We
were booked into jail
for trespassing and
spent the night in jail
until the federal government intervened
and all charges were
dropped. The action
opens the doors to
eatery, schools were
integrated and we
could go in the front
door of restaurants
and be served. Of
course, we knew not
to eat the food because we had Blacks
who worked at the
facilities to tell us that
the food was spat on
and not to eat it in
which we abided.
Several events
have been conducted
to include the Martin
Luther King Jr. Day
at Lonoke Baptist
Church where the
Rev. C. K. Yarber
is pastor. Another
activity honoring King
was held at Dunbar
intermediate School’s
auditorium. Using
King’s principles of
courage, justice,
peace, love, friendship and understanding, the NAACP
Greater Texarkana,
Texas Branch only
rained down solemn
remembrances of
King’s courage and
sacrifice for both civil
and human rights,
they also pointed exuberantly to a hopeful future outlined
by King’s principles.
The program was
dazzling to the audience by showcasing
local speaker and
performers. Vice
President Robert
Jones, who presided
at the event, stated
at the beginning of
the program that he
had “both good and
bad news. The good
news is that things
are going to change;
the bad news is
things are going to
change. We are
going to have to
learn how to change
because we didn’t
take full advantage of
integration and now
technology is another
change we’re not
prepared for”.
Local citizen were
saddened by the
arrest of an elevenyear-old who was arrested for bringing an
unloaded handgun
to a middle school
campus. The student
was arrested in January after allegedly
showing the weapon
to another student
in a bathroom. Students often portray
what is going on in
their surroundings
or what they view on
television. Still what
has happen with
parenting as to their
awareness of their
child well-being.
Dr. Emily Cutrer,
newly named president at Teas A&M
University-Texarkana
has begun the task
and is excited about
the new venture.
She said there will
be an emphasis on
academic excellence,
student engagement
and student access
along with addressing the key issues
of technology and
globalization. Cutrer was born in San
Antonio and was
raised in Houston.
She attended Hollins
College in Roanoke,
Va., and later the
University of Texas at
Austin.
Texarkana College
board has two new
board members who
are Anne Farris and
Kyle Davis. The two
will be the first to
represent the west
side of Bowie County,
with Davis representing New Boston and
Farris representing
DeKalb. They will
serve until November, when all board
places will be up for
election.
Dr. James S. Grant,
a physician and longtime resident of Texarkana recently died
and his replacement
was fill by a wellknown educator by
the name of Gerald
Books who has been
an affiliated with the
local school district for
over 40 years. Brooks
is a retired assistant
principal and teacher
for the Texarkana Independent School District and the Westlawn
Elementary school.
Nothing in the world is
more dangerous than sincere ignorance
and conscientious stupidity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
PAGE 8• The Lincoln Echo
LOCAL NEWS
MARCH OBITUARIES
MARCH BIRTHDAYS
2
Lance Deas
Bennie M. Gunn
Sue Jeffers
3
Susie Ransfer
Louise Robinson
4
Barbara Williams Hall
Richard Driver
6
Kristoff Sterling
Aron Smith
Ocie (Oceola) Templeton was born August 1, 1915 in Happy Bend
(Atkins), AR to the union of W.L. and Theola (McDaniel) Templeton.
She departed this life on January 1, 2013 in Ft. Smith, AR.
Professing Christ as her personal savior at an early age, Ocie was
known as a dedicated servant of the Lord. Her family, friends, and
neighbors were well familiar with her always present song and service
to God. A homemaker, cook, and creative seamstress and quilter, her
gift of storytelling and keeper of the family oral history was well known
throughout the community.
She was preceded in death by her most cherished and only child,
Sis. Bermer Jean Brown; her loving parents; two wonderful husbands
and partners in life, Felmore Washington and Taft Saulsbery; brothers and sisters, Willie May, Bertha, Girthree, Hillary, Elmer, Theodore,
Prelve, Angelene, James Edward, and Asalene.
She will be greatly missed and leaves to mourn her passing one
brother, Rev. W.L. Templeton; grandchildren: Vicie (Vernell) Racy, Madalyn (Robert) Warren, Ceryl Brown, Renna (Keith) Bell, and Minister
Terry (Sonja) Brown: 11 great grandchildren, 19 great, great grandchildren, and a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
===
Jewel A. Edinger
18
Carl D. Reed
Michael Franklin
19
Loise H. Turner
Lynette Turner
20
Trynnel Templeton
21
Shatanna Lee
7
Mohammed Matlock
22
Crystal Eckels
Lathel Wise
8
Cleo Hill-Baker
Theodore Dodson 111
Johann Hill
Gloria D. Starks
23
Tyrone Cole
Valerie A. Cottrell
Jennifer Jones
Brianna Wilkins
9
Rev. J.Y. Williams, Jr.
24
Freddie Harris
Roy L.Hensley, Jr.
10
Lynn Roebuck
11
Ashlee Cottrell
Andrea Franklin
Betty Wright
Eddie Slaughter
William Madison
25
LaTonya Starks
Courtney Starks
Robbie Leonard
27
Helen Briggs
Priscilla McIver
12
Darian Jones
Susie Howard Shinault
28
Barbara Cheek
Donald Webb
13
Elizabeth Dodson Austin
29
Peggy Gary
14
Ella N. Freeman
Jarone Batson
30
Gina Stafford
Connie Alexander
Janelle Walker
15
Michael C. Davis
31
Chelsia Willis
Geraldine Williams
17
Anthony Atkins
Sandra M. Smith, 70, was born on November 19, 1942 in Cheyenne, Wyoming to Joe B. Brown and Georgia Mae (Adams) Brown.
Her parents, four brothers, Antoine Brown, Benny Brown, Charles
Brown and Tony Joe Brown, one great granddaughter, Kynede Miller
and father-in-law, Cecil Smith, Sr., preceded her in death.
Sandy, as she was affectionately known united in marriage to Cecil A. Smith, Jr. on May 19, 1967. She was a faithful member of the
Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church under the pastorate of Rev.
Wallace S. Hartsfield, Sr.. She served as a Deaconess and on the
Host & Hostess Ministry, SWMU, School Sunday, Baptismal Ministry,
Christian Worker and many other ministries in the church.
Sandy was employed with the Kansas City Missouri School District as a secretary at Border Star Elementary and Primitivo Garcia
School. She retired after twenty four years of service.
She departed this life on Tuesday, January 15, 2013 at Research
Medical Center.
She leaves to cherish her memory, her husband, Cecil A. Smith,
Jr., of the home; two sons, Gregory Smith (Wilma), Lee’s Summit,
MO and Marc Smith Kimberly), Canton, MI; one daughter, Margo
Branham (Antonio), Clinton, MD; three brothers, James “Mike” Brown
(Cynthia), Donald Brown (Vickie), Kansas City, MO and Ronald
Brown, Fort Smith, AR; five sisters, Shelia Brown, Dr. Debra deClue
(Frank), Kansas City, MO, Charlotte Evans (Hose), Kansas City, KS,
Sherry Toliver and Sharon Gillis, Ft. Smith, AR; mother-in-law, Cora
Lee Smith, nine grandchildren, ten great grandchildren and a host of
uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, cousins, other relatives and friends.
MARCH 2013
POLITICS
MARCH 2013
SENATOR BOOZMAN’S
COLUMN
Our office receives
thousands of pieces
of mail each week
from Arkansans just
like you who want to
express their opinions about the issues
facing our country.
I appreciate hearing the questions
and concerns that
are important to the
people of Arkansas. I
rely on hearing from
you in order to best
represent our state.
One of my primary
roles to is respond
to those people who
take the time to
reach out to me.
There are very
serious issues we
are facing as a
nation. I would like
to share my thoughts
about some of the
questions I’m hearing from people as
we travel around the
state and receive
calls and emails from
Arkansans.
Thank you sir
for fighting a good
fight to keep our
flying mission at
the 188th. Losing
it will have major
effects on our community. I pray you
will do your utmost
to protect the jobs
of our wonderful
men and women.
They are hardworking patriotic
Americans with a
distinguished service record. –Ken
from Van Buren.
As you will recall,
the Arkansas
Congressional delegation invited the Air
Force Chief of Staff,
Gen. Mark Welsh
III to visit the 188th
Fighter Wing. We
were pleased that he
accepted that invitation and came to
visit the air base with
members of his staff
in January. This gave
him the opportunity
to see first-hand how
the most cost effect
Air National Guard
unit in the country
partners with other
assets in Fort Smith,
rather than just look
at the numbers and
the maps on paper.
I believe he learned
more about the level
of sophistication and
the tools the 188th
shares with other
components of the
military. At the end
of the day, Gen.
Welsh’s visit is very
positive and will
help lay the groundwork for securing a
viable mission for the
future.
Are you voting to
make illegal immigrants and/or their
children born in the
USA legal citizens?
Vicky from Fort
Smith
While a framework for bipartisan
immigration reform
was unveiled in the
Senate recently,
there was nothing
on paper and no
legislation has been
introduced. I’m glad
that members on
both sides of the
aisle are involved
in these reform discussions. There are
some key provisions
that I would like to
see in a reform package. Those include:
securing the border,
holding employers
accountable for hiring
illegal immigrants,
making English the
official language and
rejecting a path to
amnesty. We must
not reward people
for breaking the law,
so I will continue
to oppose amnesty
proposals. In the
meantime we can
accomplish some
of these ideas with
current legislation. I
cosponsored E-verify
legislation to make
it mandatory for
employers to verify
the work eligibility of
their employees. Everify is a web-based
tool used by nearly
270,000 employers
nationwide to confirm
the eligibility of a job
candidate or current
employee by their
name and Social
Security number.
I am contacting
you in hopes your
office will concentrate on getting a
budget in the very
near future. Our
economy will not
recover until we
have one. -Tom
from Alma
It’s been nearlyfour years since the
Senate passed a
federal budget resolution, and while we
are required to adopt
a budget, there is no
penalty for failing to
accomplish this most
basic responsibility.
That’s why I’m an
original cosponsor of
the No Budget, No
Pay Act, which withholds pay for members of Congress
until they pass a
budget. A similar bill
recently passed the
Senate as part of the
debt ceiling extension. A budget is a
basic framework for
how we spend hardearned taxpayer
dollars. Washington
needs to set spending priorities. A line
by line determination
of how federal dollars
are spent is a good
example of what
needs to be done
to rein in spending
and put us on the
path to fiscal responsibility. Fortunately,
Budget Committee
Chairwoman Patty
Murray has indicated
the committee would
put a budget together. This is a step in
the right direction.
Echo • PAGE 9
GOVERNOR BEEBE’S
COLUMN
This past week,
I traveled to
Washington, D.C.,
for the annual winter meeting of the
National Governors
Association. As governors gather from
across the country,
we always find that
we share many of
the same concerns.
Currently, we share
frustration over the
manufactured budget
crises in Congress.
This most recent
crisis has created
national anxiety over
the effects of sequestration and its funding cuts. Governors
realize that, over
time, we may have to
accept our fair share
of cuts in order to
address our national
debt. We also know
that more responsible
action on Capitol Hill
would have allowed
us to completely
avoid this latest crisis.
I sat on the NGA’s
Natural Resources
Committee, where
we discussed the
increase of extreme
severe weather
events in recent
years. Arkansas and
many other states
endured historic
flooding two years
ago, followed by
historic drought only
one year later. Both
the Secretary of
Agriculture and the
U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers pledged
continued support
for preparation and
response. As our
climate continues to
change, we may see
these extreme conditions more often.
Despite the
worrisome topics, the biggest
news we learned
in Washington has
brought optimism to
our State Capitol. For
months, I’ve worked
to convince our lawmakers to accept
federal money to
insure about 250,000
of our citizens. Most
of these Arkansans
are the working poor,
people who have
jobs but don’t make
enough to afford
insurance premiums.
Federal funds would
pay for that insurance
for three years, and
eventually Arkansas
would share 10%
of the cost. This is
an opportunity to
help our people lead
healthier, happier
lives. Our hospitals
would see reduced
burdens for uncompensated care,
expenditures that
often end up costing
all of us more.
In my discussions
with our legislative
leadership, I have
been asked repeatedly to find ways to
secure insurance
for at least some
of these Arkansans
through the private
sector. Many see
private insurance
as a more desirable
alternative to simply
placing newly eligible
Arkansans in existing
Medicaid programs.
So, when I vis-
ited D.C., I met with
Health and Human
Services Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius.
I asked for Arkansas
to have the flexibility to pursue such
ideas. She told me
that, in fact, Arkansas
could place as
many of these newly
insured clients into
our health-insurance
exchange as we
wished. The federal
government would
still cover the costs
for the first three
years, but now these
Arkansans could
receive private insurance.
This news has
sparked new discussions at the State
Capitol. Such flexibility allows us the
option to look at
targeted co-pays
and cost-sharing as
part of potential new
insurance policies.
Nothing is certain yet,
and a three-quarter supermajority of
both the House and
Senate is required for
any additional insurance coverage to
occur. However, we
are definitely making progress with this
new option on the
table.
Arkansas continues
to stand in good
stead among our
fellow states. Our
efforts to reform
health-care payments
received a lot of
interest at this meeting, as did our continued responsible budgeting. All states face
challenges ahead,
but sharing ideas and
opportunities will better equip Arkansas to
face ours head on.
BAD POLITICIANS ARE SENT TO WASHINGTON
BY GOOD PEOPLE WHO DON’T VOTE.
WILLIAM SIMON
NAPOLEON POLITICALLY SPEAKING
As we celebrate
Black History month I
think about how history repeats itself and
how hard it seems for
us to learn from our
past. The first part
of the Gettysburg
address given by
President Lincoln
said “ Four score and
seven years ago, our
fathers brought forth
upon this continent
a new nation: conceived in liberty,
and dedicated to
the proposition that
all men are created
equal. Now we are
engaged in a great
civil war. . .testing
whether that nation,
or any nation so conceived and so
dedicated. . . can
long endure.”
We seem to be
re-fighting that same
war. Every since the
passing of the civil
rights and voting act
laws we have been
a country united in
name only. Greed
has taken over and
basic human decency has all but disap-
peared.
The problems facing this country are
not insurmountable
nor do they take a
genius to
solve. Everyone
knows when the least
among you is doing
well economically
everyone is doing
well. Our politicians
at one time seemed
to be people who
really tried to represent the people. Now
they seem to be be
determined to suckle
on the public teat.
An election was
held to decide
whether we wanted
to follow the lead of
President Obama
and the democrats
or Mitt Romney and
the republicans. We
choose the president
and the democrats.
We decided we
wanted the balanced
approach to deficit reduction along
with tax increases
on the wealthy. We
voted for jobs programs. the hiring of
teachers and police-
man, investment in
research and education along with action
on global warming.
Republicans act
as if there was no
election and we have
business as usual.
We cannot allow this
to continue.
We have tried
almost ten years of
cutting taxes and
reducing spending
and we produced
one of the worst
recessions in history
in this country. It's
time we started pull-
ing together for the
greater good.
If we are to regain
our status as world
leader in wealth,
health, education and
innovation we most
take the focus off
partisan politics and
the hue of the man in
the white house. We
must concentrate on
sloving the problems
confronting us and
return to civility in
our politics. Make the
word UNITED mean
just that.
HERITAGE
PAGE 10• The Lincoln Echo
MARCH 2013
WILLIAM AND ELLEN CRAFT
William and Ellen
Craft were born into
slavery. William
was born in Macon,
Georgia to a master who sold off his
family to pay his
gambling debts.
William’s new owner
apprenticed him as
a carpenter in order
to earn money from
his labor. Ellen
was born in Clinton,
Georgia and was
the daughter of an
African American
slave and her white
owner. Ellen had a
very light complexion
and was frequently
mistaken for a member of her white family. At the age of
eleven she was given
away as a wedding
gift to the Collins
Family in Macon,
Georgia. It was in
Macon, Georgia
where William and
Ellen met.
Ellen and William
lived in Macon,
Georgia, and were
owned by different masters. Put up
for auction at age
16 to help settle
his master’s debts,
William had become
the property of a
local bank cashier.
A skilled cabinetmaker, William, continued to work at the
shop where he had
apprenticed, and his
new owner collected
most of his wages.
Minutes before being
sold, William had
witnessed the sale of
his frightened, tearful 14-year-old sister. His parents and
brother had met the
same fate and were
scattered throughout
the South.
As a child, Ellen,
the offspring of her
first master and one
of his biracial slaves,
had frequently been
mistaken for a member of his white family. Much annoyed
by the situation, the
plantation mistress
sent 11-year-old
Ellen to Macon to her
daughter as a wedding present in 1837,
where she served as
a ladies maid. Ellen
and William married,
but having experienced such brutal
family separations
despaired over having children, fearing
they would be torn
away from them.
“The mere thought,”
William later wrote
of his wife’s distress,
“filled her soul with
horror
Pondering various escape plans,
William, knowing that
slaveholders could
take their slaves to
any state, slave or
free, hit upon the
idea of fair-complexioned Ellen passing
herself off as his
master—a wealthy
young white man
because it was not
customary for women
to travel with male
servants. Initially
Ellen panicked at
the idea but was
gradually won over.
Because they were
“favourite slaves,” the
couple had little trouble obtaining passes
from their masters for
a few days leave at
Christmastime, giving them some days
to be missing without
raising the alarm.
Additionally, as a carpenter, William probably would have kept
some of his earnings
– or
perhaps
did odd
jobs for
others
– and
was
allowed
to keep some of the
money.
Before setting out
on December 21,
1848, William cut
Ellen’s hair to neck
length. She improved
on the deception
by putting her right
arm in a sling, which
would prevent hotel
clerks and others
from expecting “him”
to sign a registry
or other papers.
Georgia law prohibited teaching slaves to
read or write, so neither Ellen nor William
could do either.
Refining the invalid
disguise, Ellen asked
William to wrap bandages around much
of her face, hiding
her smooth skin and
giving her a reason
to limit conversation
with strangers. She
wore a pair of men’s
trousers that she herself had sewed. She
then donned a pair of
green spectacles and
a top hat. They knelt
and prayed and took
“a desperate leap for
liberty.”
At the Macon train
station, Ellen purchased tickets to
Savannah, 200 miles
away. As William
took a place in the
“negro car,” he spotted the owner of the
cabinetmaking shop
on the platform. After
questioning
the
ticket
seller,
the man
began
peering
through the windows
of the cars. William
turned his face from
the window and
shrank in his seat,
expecting the worst.
The man searched
the car Ellen was in
but never gave the
bandaged invalid a
second glance. Just
as he approached
William’s car, the bell
clanged and the train
lurched off.
In Savannah, the
fugitives boarded
a steamer for
Charleston, South
Carolina. Over
breakfast the next
morning, the friendly
captain marveled at
the young master’s
“very attentive boy”
and warned him
to beware “cutthroat abolitionists”
in the North who
would encourage
William to run away.
A slave trader on
board offered to buy
William and take him
to the Deep South,
and a military officer
scolded the invalid
for saying “thank
you” to his slave. In
an overnight stay
at the best hotel in
Charleston, the solicitous staff treated the
ailing traveler with
upmost care, giving
him a fine room and
a good table in the
dining room.
Trying to buy
steamer tickets from
South Carolina to
Philadelphia, Ellen
and William hit a
snag when the ticket
seller objected to
signing the names
of the young gentleman and his slave
even after seeing
the injured arm. In
an effort to prevent
white abolitionists
from taking slaves
out of the South,
slaveholders had to
prove that the slaves
traveling with them
were indeed their
property. Sometimes
travelers were
detained for days
trying to prove ownership. As the surly
ticket seller reiterated
his refusal to sign by
jamming his hands
in his pockets, providence prevailed: The
genial captain happened by, vouched
for the planter and
his slave and signed
their names
Upon their arrival
in Philadelphia, Ellen
and William were
quickly given assistance and lodging
by the underground
abolitionist network.
They received a
reading lesson their
very first day in the
city. Three weeks
later, they moved to
Boston where William
resumed work as a
cabinetmaker and
Ellen became a
seamstress. After
two years, in 1850,
slave hunters arrived
in Boston intent on
returning them to
Georgia. The Crafts
fled again, this time
to England, where
they eventually had
five children. After 20
years they returned
to the States and
in the 1870s established a school in
Georgia for newly
freed blacks.
. They settled outside of Savannah,
Georgia where they
opened the Woodville
Co-operative Farm
School in 1873 to
teach and employ
newly freed slaves.
Although the school
was initially successful, by 1876, some
of its financial backers accused William
Craft of taking donations for his own use.
He sued for libel but
lost in court. The
school closed due to
lack of funding. The
Crafts eventually lost
the farm because of
a dramatic decrease
in the price of cotton
in the mid-1880s. In
1890 William and
Ellen Craft moved
to Charleston to live
with their daughter.
Ellen Craft died
there in 1891.
William Craft died in
Charleston in 1900.
Revelation Church
A Tall Tale about Tall Corn
We have a serious need for a bus in our church.
One day I was walking past a forty-acre patch of corn, on the
Governor Heywood plantation by the Combahee River, and the
corn was so high and thick, I decide to ramble through it. About
halfway over, I hears a commotion. I walks on and peeps. There
stands a four-ox wagon backed up to the edge of the fields, and
two men was sawing down a stalk. Finally they drag it on the
wagon and drive off. I seen one of them, in a day or two, and
asks about it. He say: “We shelled 356 bushels of corn from that
one ear, and then we saw 800 feet of lumber from the cob.”
Our goal is to obtain two (2) buses for our church, greatly needed to
provide transportation for church services, as well as youth functions,
on the local, district and state leaves.
Your contribution is much appreciated and tax deductible.
May the Lord lead you in your decision.
The Lord Bless & Keep you,
Pastor-Supt. J.D. Frazier, Spiro, OK
Ph: 479-420-7938
To help us obtain two busses, I/We want to donate:
___________
$100.00
___________
$500.00
___________
$1,000.00
___________
Other $ ________________
Name: _______________________________________
Address ______________________________________
Phone _______________________________________
- told by John Henry Smith of Little Rock, Arkansas, son of former slaves from South Carolina, and attributed to his father
MARCH 2013
HERITAGE
Echo • PAGE 11
UNITED STATES COLORED TROOPS
Researched By
Tonia Holeman
I have decided to
take a few months off
from reaching family files. During this
break, I have been
doing research on
the United States
Colored Troops
that were based in
Arkansas. Of course
the 11th USCT was
formed in Fort Smith,
Arkansas. Many
descendants of these
soldiers live in Fort
Smith and surrounding areas.
Fort Smith has
an unlimited history and the surface has just really
been scratched,
so to speak. Camp
Beecher was in Fort
Smith. It was the
Post Hospital for
the Colored Troops.
Many of the Colored
Troops died at Camp
Beecher. Where
were they buried?
In checking the list
of burials for the
National Cemetery,
the soldiers were not
listed as being buried
there. Were they
listed as “Unknown’s”
in the Cemetery?
I found that New
Cemetery in Little
Rock was the burial
place for the soldier’s
in that area. Any
solider who died
in 1862, 1863 and
1864 is not listed
as buried in the
National Cemetery
in Little Rock. Then
in 1865, the soldiers
who died in the Little
Rock area are buried in New Solder’s
Cemetery which
became Little Rock
National Cemetery.
Consequently, I feel
that the soldiers
who died at Camp
Beecher, Fort Smith
prior to 1865 are
buried in Fort Smith
National Cemetery
but are not recorded.
Soldier’s from the
11th United States
Colored Troops,
57th, 112, 113, 83rd
Kansas Colored,
79th Kansas
Colored, are all buried in the National
Cemetery Fort Smith,
Arkansas. Research
is so full of surprises,
I always thought the
83rd Kansas Colored
Soldiers were men
who enlisted from
Arkansas, Oklahoma
and Kansas, but
the majority of the
soldiers were from
Missouri.
Also noted in the
research, the United
States Colored
Troops, who fought
for the Union and
their freedom, were
killed or died from the
diseases among the
troops, were buried
in National Cemetery.
African slaves
were noted in New
Hampshire by 1645.
They concentrated
in the area around
Portsmouth. Furthermore, as one of the
few colonies that did
not impose a tariff on
slaves, New Hampshire became a base
for slaves to be imported into America
then smuggled into
other colonies. Every census up to the
Revolution showed
an increase in black
population, though
they remained proportionally fewer than
in most other New
England colonies.
As across the
North, wartime attrition destroyed
slavery as a viable
economic institution.
Between 1773 and
1786, the number
of New Hampshire
slaves fell from 674
to 46. Many obtained freedom by
running away to the
British in Boston,
others by serving
in the Continental
Army. Desperate
to fill its regiments,
New Hampshire had
offered bounties to
slaveholders who
manumitted black
recruits.
The rhetoric of
Revolution and liberty
was felt here, too, but
the practical effect
was often wanting. In
1779, Prince Whipple, a slave of a New
Hampshire Continental Army officer, and
18 other blacks sent
a petition to the legislature seeking emancipation. They used
Revolutionary rhetoric, and wrote that
slavery was incompatible with “justice,
humanity, and the
rights of mankind,”
but the petition was
ignored.
The 1783 state
constitution declared
“all men are born
equal and independent,” with natural
rights, “among which
are enjoying and
defending life and
liberty.” This was very
close to the language
that led, via the
courts, to the end of
slavery in Massachusetts. But there are
no judicial records
from New Hampshire
to indicate that this
was construed there
as ending slavery.
Many clearly felt it
did, but whether for
all slaves, or only to
children of slaves
born after 1783, is
not clear.
Slaves were removed from the rolls
of taxable property
in 1789, but the act
appears to have
been for taxing purposes only. The 1790
census counted 158
slaves; but in 1800,
there were only 8.
Portsmouth traders
participated legally in
the slave trade until
1807. No slaves were
counted for the state
in 1810 and 1820,
but three are listed
in 1830 and one in
1840.
A commonly accepted date for the
end of slavery in New
Hampshire is 1857,
when an act was
passed stating that
“No person, because
of decent, should
be disqualified from
becoming a citizen
of the state.” The
act is interpreted as
prohibiting slavery.
By a strict interpretation, however, slavery
was outlawed only on
Dec. 6, 1865, when
the 13th amendment went into effect.
(Ratified by New
Hampshire July 1,
1865.)
With a minuscule
number of slaves in
its population (a mere
one-fifteenth
of one
percent in
1860), New
Hampshire
was one of
the more
liberal states
of the North
in terms of
restrictive
laws. Except
for barring blacks
from the
militia, it left
them to do
most other
things. For
instance, in
1860, New
Hampshire
was one of
only 5 states
that allowed
blacks to
vote.
But when
abolitionists pressed
their agenda, or when
the mere possibility
of a black in-migration arose, the people
could act as decisively as those in Ohio or
Indiana.
In March 1835, for
instance, a group of
28 white and 14 black
students sat down to
begin classes at the
newly founded Noyes
Academy, a private
school in Caanan,
N.H. The school was
Many, many slave
owners from Missouri
filled out a form for
compensation for the
loss of their slaves.
So even in death,
the slave owners
tried to profit. These
forms are a bitter pill
to swallow, but the
forms also contains
valuable information
of where the SlaveSoldier was purchased, sometimes
the Mother’s name
and many times the
Slave-Soldier’s brothers and sisters. This
is valuable information which isn’t
recorded any where
else on documents.
By the end of the
war, the 11th and
112th, merged and
became 113 USCT.
The 113 mustered
out in DeValls Bluff,
Arkansas. The 79
Kansas Colored
mustered out in Pine
Bluff, Arkansas. The
83rd Kansas Colored
mustered out in
Camden, Arkansas
and Little Rock,
Arkansas. After the
war, many of the
soldiers remained in
the state of Arkansas
and did not return
to their home state.
Also the Soldiers
sent word to their
families back home
to come to Arkansas
and join them. This
is one of the reasons we find many
of the descendants
of Union Civil War
soldiers living in our
area and Oklahoma.
One of these
days I will do more
research on the
compensation forms
filled out by the
white slave owners. I am hoping
to find the United
States Government
did not pay them a
penny. Many times
two slave owners
would claim the
same Slave-Soldiers;
which shows it was
all about profit!
a pet project of New
England abolitionists,
who figured prominently on its board.
They admitted qualified students, regardless of race, and they
made it an item of
the school’s policy,
as outlined in its
prospectus, “to afford
colored youth a fair
opportunity to show
that they are capable,
equally with the
though the abolitionists had written
glowingly of the little
town’s acceptance
of this social experiment, the citizens of
Canaan called a
meeting and declared that they did
not accept it at all,
that they were more
than four-fifths opposed the academy,
and that they were
“determined to take
whites, of improving
themselves in every
scientific attainment,
every social virtue,
and every Christian
ornament.”
The black students
seem to have been
drawn largely from
New York City (they
rode up in segregated steamboats), and
the roster features
several names that
went on to prominence in the civil
rights struggles. But,
effectual measures to
remove it.”
On the Fourth of
July, 1835, a mob
approached the
building, but they
dispersed when
confronted by a local
magistrate. But later
that month, the Town
Meeting appointed
a committee to do
away with the school
in “the interest of the
town, the honor of the
State, and the good
of the whole commu-
nity (both black and
white).”
The committee
accomplished its
work on Aug. 10.
It rounded up men
from neighboring
towns and nearly
100 yoke of oxen,
and they pulled the
school building off
its foundation and
dragged it to the town
common, beside
the Baptist meeting house, where it
could be prevented
from being used
as intended. When
the job was done,
the committee met
briefly to condemn
abolitionism, praise
the Constitution, and
invoke the memories of the patriots of
‘76. “So ended the
day,” the “Concord
Patriot” wrote, “joyful to the friend of his
country, but sorrowful
to the Abolitionists.”
Early in 1839, a fire
of unreported origin
destroyed the former
school building.
Speaking in Congress, New Hampshire Sen. Isaac
Hill defended the
citizens, saying their
goal had been to
thwart the abolitionist
scheme to mingle the
children of the two
races. But rumors
around the town
before the decisive
action centered on
fear of an influx of
blacks, and visions
of ramshackle huts
full of fugitive slaves
lining the streets of
Canaan, of town tax
rates driven sky high
by black paupers and
good citizens subject
to public nuisances.
SLAVERY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
NEWS
PAGE 12• The Lincoln Echo
MARCH 2013
THE ULTIMATE MEASURE OF A MAN
By Denay Burris
The Ultimate Measure of a Man can
best be described as
Martin Luther King a
well known civil rights
leader. Let me start
with a quote of Martin
Luther King’s. “The
ultimate measure of a
man is not where he
stands in moments
of comfort and convenience, but where
he stands at times of
challenge and controversy’. This quote is
something that I have
tried to live my entire
life by. It means that
the right thing to do
may not always be
easy. It means that
in order to stand for
right, you might just
have to do something
that is hard, something that takes an
extra effort. Something that people may
dislike you for. And
in the case of Martin
Luther King, they
KILLED him for. But
that’s okay, because
Martin Luther King
stood for what he
knew to be true. He
believed that all men
were created equal.
Let me just say that
again, He believed
that, “All men were
created equal”, these
were the words used
in the Declaration of
Independence written
by Thomas Jefferson
and John Adams in
1776, although they
did not quite mean
at the time written
that the black African
slave was equal to
his white counterpart. You see back
then blacks were
only considered 3/5’s
human. It wasn’t
until 1863 (almost a
century later) that the
Emancipation Proclamation was written. It
gave the black slave
his freedom. And a
half of century later
in 1929 Martin Luther
King was born.
By the time King
was in his early 30’s
he was at the forefront of the civil rights
movement. Blacks
were now treated as
second class citizens.
A step up from 3/5’s
human. Although,
Blacks and whites
were still separate
in everything they
did. Blacks could not
eat and drink at the
same place as their
white counterparts,
they had separate
places to sit in movie
theaters, separate
restrooms, separate
schools, separate
ball teams (can you
imagine that), now
they rode the same
bus, but blacks had
to sit at the back of
the bus in the colored
section. If there were
not enough seats for
the white passengers
up front, the blacks
would stand and
allow the white passengers to be seated.
Until one day in 1955
a middle aged black
woman by the name
of Rosa Parks decided she was just too
tired to give up her
seat in the colored
section of the bus.
Just tired of giving
up. You know sometimes it just gets like
that even today.
The ultimate measure of a man. Rosa
Parks made a conscious decision and
decided that enough
was enough. You see
you don’t have to be
a man to be a person
of fortitude. You don’t
have to be a man to
display courage. But
what do have to do is
put yourself out there.
You have to be willing
to accept the consequences of your actions. You have to be
willing to stand firm
and not back down
(that means no quitting, no giving up).
Because in the end,
you will have stood
for what you believe.
Now, Rosa Parks
was not the first
person that refused
to give up her seat
to a white; she was
the one that was
determined to be the
best person to spark
a movement in this
nation’s history that
was equivalent to no
other. This was the
beginning of a movement that created
the Civil Rights. And
Martin Luther King
was in the middle
of it all. He worked
with Rosa Parks at
their local NAACP
chapter in Montgomery, Alabama. Ms.
Parks knew a lot of
people and a lot of
people knew her. It
was decided that she
was the one to stand
behind and push the
movement forward.
And the boycott
of the bus system
began. It took a little
more than a year for
the Supreme Court to
rule that the segregation on the buses was
illegal. And still the
bus company ignored
the ruling until the
Supreme Court said
either stop the segregation or go to jail.
The Civil Rights Act
of 1964 is a landmark
piece of legislation
in the United States
that outlawed major
forms of discrimination against racial,
ethnic, national and
religious minorities,
and women. It ended
unequal application
of voter registration
requirements and
racial segregation in
schools, at the workplace and by facilities
that served the general public
The Civil Rights Act
led the way for the
Voting Rights. The
Voting Rights Act of
1965 is a landmark
piece of national legislation in the United
States that outlawed
discriminatory voting
practices that had
been responsible for
the widespread disenfranchisement of
blacks in the U.S.
Movements such
as this bus boycott
began across the
country. Many people
were killed. But in the
end, right won.
You see Rosa
Parks, Martin Luther
King, they were just
ordinary people. People that were tired of
being tired. Knowing the differences
between right and
wrong and just tired
of accepting wrong.
The difference that
set people like Rosa
Parks and Martin
Luther King apart
from most is that they
decided to stand their
ground. Men and
women such as Rosa
Parks and Martin
Luther King fought for
what they knew was
right. People from
all over this country
fought for what was
right. Blacks, whites,
all nationalities,
people from around
the world fought for
what was right. So
that blacks here in
America would have
an opportunity. They
fought to end oppression. So that we too
would have an opportunity right here in
these United States
to achieve our goals.
As Martin Luther King
put it, so that one day
as he envisioned in
his dream that his
four little children
would one day live in
a nation where they
would not be judged
by the color of their
skin, but by the content of their character.
Martin Luther King,
Jr.
Can any of you
young black students
out there imagine
being considered as
lazy because of the
color of your skin? I
mean in today’s day.
No you can’t, can
you. Can any of you
female students out
there imagine that
people consider you
lazy before they have
even met you, just
because you are a
woman? No, you
can’t can you. Well
these are prejudices
that continue to exist today right here
in Oklahoma. If you
don’t believe me look
it up.
People such as
Martin Luther King
and Rosa Parks
fought so that
one day a black
man could realize
the once impossible. They fought
for people like you
and me. So that one
day a black man
could, become the
President of these
United States. I never
thought in my lifetime
that I would see the
day that a black man
was the President.
How inspired I was
to see this day. How
inspired should be
so many of you. You
have all experienced
history. President
Barak Obama. With
this occurrence, no
ne who reads this
article should feel
as though what they
desire is impossible
to achieve. Martin
Luther King and
Rosa Parks stood
their ground so that
you may be born
with open eyes full of
excitement and the
desire to achieve.
Don’t let them down.
Don’t let yourself
down. Stand with a
straight back. Stand
proud. Stand as a
man. And always
remember what you
do today will follow
you the rest of your
life. It can make you
or break you. “And always remember that
all men are created
equal.”
“If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition,
it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world,
and it stands in danger of being exterminated.” Carter G. Woodson