•
rl
ch ract riz
m ri can politica I lif
e' e 01 ion! of men
can 100 up to,
01 murder rs and
100!
e' 01 folio rs of th
Hon. Wallace D.
uhammad,
Wr 01 Christia ,
holies, Jehovah'
and so many
mono
We' of I &ubara
JOI'dGns and tM Andrr
YOIIIIP
WM work 011 OIIr poIitiaJJ
JA U
7
pro d to be
I
th
much of th
pa t and p rchan c
of it futur
affairs,
We've 01 the, Dr.
Poussaints and th Dr.
'elsin s
Who help us to understand
oursel .
ou can nom 'em all ...
, telt ou are just 0
mu h ;re too much for
oursel !
o hat e on no do with
all this mixture?
J t k�p on shakin it up-
usin hat you I' e.
if tin 'out hal ou don't
like,
But all J can is that
Ih 're all
Y FOLK!
nett Elam pedeville
(If the old yina "It ta es
I kind to ma e a orld."·
true-thai us fol
have one bee of a universe!!)
Chuth m's proposaJ
died in oommittee-he
the lone BlK of
th�t pMticulM COnwess.
commu-
nity as � tended to
Ye Con�orW Bbc �
more incluSi ,outJook, �
dee sen °0 'ty, ttwa
o lse Id h been
the case.
For ether � Congres-
sion� BIKk came from the
East Coast, the est Coast,
or id America, 0
tiler a De1YM>Cnt or a
R publiun, he or she
uld inevitably be cau t
in the p of one com-
pelling purpose-to b
dimensions of democra­
cy in America, gi in it
n expression.
In the. process, the
CongressiOlUI Blacks �
group ould not lose si t.
of a collateral goaJ-th�t
of enlarging the domain
of democracy abroad, espec­
ially in those regions most
deeply ridden by lines of
cute and color.
THIS SERIES brings
into individual focus this
goodly company of forty­
five Blac achievers and
o ercom r, mo rs, and
sh ken.
H rein iJI find
gallery of notable Am ri­
cans, persons orthy of
our attention in any sea­
son nd especially in these
I n them see much
of this atlon's p t d,
perchance, catch a glimpse
of its future.
s
lands dre fir from Blae s This
in Congress.. In the 1870's . no id e bout.
they espoused Cuban inde- In its short span of
pef\d ce from Spanish. rule. years to date the Blac
In th 1970's they are I Ca GUs has compiled an
e hibiting a deepening con- impressi record of mea­
cern about e nts in Afri- sures passed or defeated,
id, 0 - ca, their dual aim to ex- and of executi e appoint-
e r, th�t anyo ho ex- d governmental financial ments approved or denied.
e vitas of the aid to th economically un­
BI no . hold seats de loped countries on that
on upitol Hill cannnot Continent and to support
to conclude that th'r th efforts to brin about
iti fully entitle them �jority rul in
mbership therein. m jority rule in Rhodesia'
The c em and the Union of South
Con ha, 0 AfriQ.
YeMs, directed their en ies In pursuit of their
to � . ty of inte sts g s throu., legi atl
and concerns. Foremost don, Congressional B cks
from th begin- ha no hesitated to coop­
civil rights and crate ith others- °th pro-
·d to education. gressl groups, white and
B c I� rna en could. blat , throughout the coun-
so be counted upon to try, and °th white col-
support soclal I mea- leagues on Capitol HiII­
sur , such public hulth p �ubrly those who come
. I oon-one of their from districts ith a
longtime 5.. sizeab e Afro-American con-
BY THEIR very nature °tuency.
programs uld b
� poor dless of
or color. II cqualn-
ith the restrictions on
the rights of minorities,
Congressional BI cks spoke
out for If determina ion
fo th Am can I ndian and
for 's suffrage.
'on in oth
lands dre fire from Blacks
in Congress. In the 1870's
they espoused Cuban inde­
pendence from Spanish rule.
In th 1970's they are
exhibiting a pening con­
cern bout ev nts in Afri-
, th ir du im to ex-
tend go m nal fin cia!
id to th economically un­
de loped countri on that
Contin nt d to support
effo to ing about
. majority rule
These legisl�tors Come
from localities °th differ­
ing, or even competing,
priorities. As oth Ia­
makers 0 come to Wash­
ington, each of e Con­
gressional Blacks must be
attend to the ·shes and
FRO THAT winter demands of his/h parti-
afternoon hen Re Is too cui distric
his seat in the Senate, a ile keeping their
small percenta of BIKks own home fires bum in ,
h expected more from ho �r, I Congressional·
these BIx legisl�tors than Blacks are °mulaneously
they could eyer deliYer (or called upon to rep t
indeed could be delivered . the broader natiorW b ck
thro the political pro- community .
cess alooe], The relative number of
To the great majority Afro-Americans ho sit in
of Blacks, ho , this Congress is so small that
corps of neMty half a hun- BI�ck ember automati­
. dred Congressmen and Con- cally ake on unusual pro­
women has inspired a portions, acquiring � n-
deep se of racial prid tional constituency-the
and self- orth. . Black community-at-lar .
These legislators, all but THE CONGRESS
o of whom have come at Blacks h�ve not shunned
from predominandy black this broader responsibility °
Tho of the present day,
or eumple, ha worked
to make the birthd�y of
arlin Luth r King, Jr.,
a national holiday. It was
ch a sen of broad
responsibility that prompt­
ed nineteenth century Con-
E of the districts, re a living proof �sionaJ BJacks like Rovert
of tting a bill th�t Blac s could prepuce Brown Elliott and James
acted, Congressional an able leadership of their T. Rapier to support strong-
Blac need n schooling own. Iy civil rights legislaton;
in the rt of coalition oreo r, their pre- to impel GeorJ H. White
politics. As on of the· sence in the ails of Con- to Q]I for a Federal anti-
current members put it, ess made I their Black lynching ct; and to move
U ere our cau benefit constituents f I that they Henry P. Cheatham to intro-
by coalition politics, e re more than bystanders duce a bill (in the House
all coalesce." -they ere participants, in December 1890) stipul -
Thi effort at coopera- ho ver vicariously, in the ting that $100,000 be ap-
tive action reached its political process. propriated "For th purpose
en, in January 1969, the Congre ional Blacks of collecting, preparing, and
81 ck members of the' h on ro that is publishing facts and statis-
Hou, all Democrats, thrust upon them -a role tics pertaining to the moral,
launched the Congre ional ich th y lcome as a industrial, and intellectual
Blae Caucus. The avowed rule, ho development and progress
aim of th organization of colored people of African
to be ccomplished by descent residing in the Uni-
loping, introducing,
nd ping progressi legis­
lation designed to m t the
n s of millions of negl c­
t d citizens."
