THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY
what radio tation
How many non-Blaclu kd tM NBA in boundi (rom 1967
to 1979'
AUGUST 24, 1950 - Jud
fi Bla del te to thi United
Unl ty found.
In what prison was Eldrig Cleau r ruin tim uihen h
uirote "Soul On lee"?
AUGUST 25, 1908 -
The first "March on Washington" was held on what date?
AUGUST 26, 1920 - Th 9th Am ndme t to he onsti­
tution ratified, giving women the right to vote. 1 90's - Black
tage dancing led the way in vaud vill and musical comedy.
Who was the first executive cretary of the National Urban
League?
AUGUST 27, 1935 - Congre tabli hed the Federal
Theater Project. 1910 - Blacks had bean disenfranchised in
MS, SC, LA, NC, AL, VA, GA, & OK.
Name one of the Caribbean countrie involved in the U.S.
iponsored Caribbean Basin Initiative.
AUGUST 28,1950 -Alt ea Gibson became first Black to
play in the USLTA National Championships at Forest Hills,
N.Y. 1963 - Martin Luther King Jr. lead "The March on
W: hington," the largest civil rights demonstration in U.S. His­
tory. 1897 - Andrew Beard invented an automatic coupling
device for railroads. 1879 - Colored armer' lance was
founded.
Archie Bell is the brother of what Tampa Bcq Buccaneer
football player?
swe
22nd - WDIA. 23rd - None.
24th - California's Folsom Prison.
25th - August 28, 1963.
26th - Eugene Kinde Jones.
27th - Jamaica, Dominican Republic or Barbados.
28th - Ricky Bell.
. "Call unto' me, alJd I will
answer thee, and shew thee
great and mighty things,
which thou knowest not. "
Jeremiah 33:3
,
y
READERS WRITE
"Rodney King is guilty of as­
saulting four L.A police officers;
- He kept hitting them upside
the head with his billy club."
Tha t . is the reasoning the
Judge reportedly used in hand­
ing down the light sentences to
the two police officers convicted
of beating Rodney King. It ap­
pears to be the same logic used
by a Judge in a rape case who
reportedly said, "the victim
asked for it "
Was Rodney King ulted
by the police offi rs and raped
by the justice system? The n­
swer to that rhetorical question
may well depend upon your eth­
nic background or an tral life
experiences with th justice sys­
tem.
I surely will not criticize or
s nd-gu th sentencing of
another Jud . I recognize that
judicial deci ions are often in
part determined by the life expe­
riences of the Judge and t�
handed down to him by his fore­
fathers.
WHO WE E T forefa-
t who tablished an Ameri­
can system of justice, wh re 11
men are cr ted equal? Who
re the forefath rs who guar­
anteed an equal system of laws
by the people, of th people and
for the people?
. Were t y forefath of th
Black Americans who are often
entangled in the justice system?
Were Itt people," guarant
equal justice, poor people as
well?
There has been a sentiment
echoed in a large segment of th
Black community, from as far
back as the slave masters' own
words, that "a Black man had no
rights that white man was
bound to respect. That th life or
liberty of a Black man d not
have the same value as that of a
white man."
Again, I will not reflect on th
sentencing policies of anoth r
Judge but the enti Rodney
King ease warns us that the sys­
tem of justice, must refl all
Americans. If all Americans are
to respect the system of justice,
all Americans, includi Afri­
can-Americans, must b re-
'fleeted in th syst m.
. Judges, juries, prosecutors,
defe e attorneys, police offi
and all segments of the Am ri­
canjustice ystem must be as a
giant mirror, reflecting the
faces, life experiences and a
tral heritage of all peopl .
-
•
?'
•
)
ence when the mirror shattered by hatred and
after the original Rodney King" into your fa
verdict, eou be more devastat- Ion ly st 0
ing than the Seven Year War. th fl
Equal, color blind justi for
all Americans must be a living
reality. It is up to all responsible
citizens to guard and protect the
mirror of the American system of
justice from all who may wish to
throw a stone.
After all some over-zealous
law enforcement officer, blinded
t\o� COMe 11M ?oo;?,
�LESS� S\Q(
AN\) YDU'((� �Oi?
PoOR I
Mark L Matth w
Kincheloe, MI
'. , .
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