' t 1, Tony Brown's Journal J ? I 4 A tlanta's Black ChildrenI Sec Page 5 J '; s witis\ VOL. VII NO. 28 U.S.P.S. No. W Five Re: J. 1 ^111 Uj By Donna Oldham said, "I cannot in all con Stqff Writer sciousness, remain a member of this organizaFive of the seven tion as long as the chairman members of the board of does not adhere to the directors of the East stated goals and objectives Winston Local Develop- of the group. Therefore, I ment _ Company,_ Inc., respectfully_subnjit this _ resigned Tuesday night resignation effective imbecause they objected to the mediately." way chairman R. Lewis Ray White's resignation, represented the group. worded much the same way Board members Melvyn said, "In the interest of * L. White, and Ernest H. what I believe to be the best Pitt, submitted written for the community, I subresignations to Ray during a' mit herewith my resignation board meeting held at 516 from the Board of the N. Trade Street. EWLDC. The thrust of In his resignation Pitt community ownership of Klan-SWAT A] Predict City Vi By Donna Oldham through violence and Staff Writer threats of violence and intimidation." Contrary to One of the organizers of public opinion, Brooks Southern Whites Against said, SWAT isn't "antiTyranny [SWAT] has said black, but pro-truth, justice that his group will resort to arid fairness. "Wealthy violence, if necessa/y to whites are the targets, there make Jheir objectives is something wrong with the understood. system," he said. Warren Brooks told the According to SWAT Chronicle Monday that the literature SWAT ... recent Klan-SWAT Coali- 1. "Is a Vlan.ha^lr^H tion headed by Klansman white activist counter-force Joe Grady and himself have to Communist-backed a specific target, wealthy black activists.'* white citizens of Winston- 2. "Is the working white Salem. man's answer to corrupt of"We are after the ficials and wealthy wealthy, white manipulators." manipulators who run this 3. "Will specialize in city like a private country pragmatic politics." club. They respond to 4. "Will deal fairly and money, bloc votes, peti- in a straightforward mantions, violence and threats n?r with minority members of violence," he said conti- of society who arc nuing. "The function of pragmatic enough to realize the Klan-SWAT coalition is the inevitable role of to convey grievances of low minorities in a democracy, and middle income whites like Fleming El-Amin." Frustratic /^V1? ^ A If :>u Years By Donna Oldham and Yvonne Anderson Staff Writers On March 1, 1951, eight black men of varied backgrounds and vocations, came together and made history as the first black firefighters hired by the City of Winston-Salem. The eight, who will always be known as "Company Four," were also the first black city firefighters in the state. None of the members of "Company Four," had dreams of being firefighters as children or in their early adult years, but all, once they joined the fire department, made a career out of the firefighting profession. Dr. Kenneth R. Williams, chancellor emeritus of Winston-Salem State University and pastor emeritus of United Metropolitan Baptist Church was instrumental in encouraging the city to hire black firemen. \ \ Church News I Meetings, Stories and Sunday School | ^ Lesson l See Pages 17,18 and 19 J ton-Sale "Serving the Winston-Salem C >7910 WINSTON-SALEM. N.C. sigiv ^ WLLHJ the proposed shopping John Duncan, was asked to center in East Winston must resign by Ray, but Duncan not be thwarted. Where refused saying, "I'm not there are philosophical dif- going to let him destroy all ferences that cannot be our hard work. 1 am totally resolved democratically, opposed to his conduct and somebody must step in the actions; that's why I'm background Jn order that staying.!! organizational goals can be pursued." Ray, a local attorney, Immediately after White and the EWLDC began and Pitt had submitted their having problems last month resignations, three other when he made statement sat board members, Bishop a meeting of East Winston S.D. Johnson, Mazie S. Development Council Woodruff and Naomi chaired by Alderman Fuller all offered verbal Virginia Newell, resignations to Ray. The a Ray called for the two sixth member of the board, groups To bury the hatchet and pool their resources and work together. ? However, he spoke without \\r\ f*| C3k consulting the EWLDC, the HlftllvW former board members claim. "The problem is with the chairman, who has a love and affection with dealing | 1 p with the press. I cttfiT L\/lvllvv tolerate the confusion. Someone needs to step fn The background and let the group move on," White said. 5. "Will turn those who Pitt said that although he think the tail should wag believed in the local the dog over to the Klan development non-profit phase of the operation, like organization, he doesn't Larry Womble." agree with Ray's methods 6. "Will insist that those or politics. See Page 2 "What we hoped to do See Page 2 Jackson Rouses By Yvonne Anderson capacity audience last week, Stqff Writer in the university's Moore Gymnasium. He was taking Greensboro - The part in the Founder's Week Reverend Jesse Jackson, progam at A&T as the Director of the Chicago university celebrates its 90th based organization PUSH birthday. (People United to Save "All schools bave a misHumanity), challenged the sion, the Harvards, Yales, student body and faculty of Columbias, Brandeis, North Carolina A&T State Yeshivas," Jackson said. University "to remain true "The original mission of to the school's original mis- A&T and other black colSiOn." l^oi>c a nH n tii?>???! uiiw u i T vi 31 ii&3 Jackson, a 1963 graduate throughout the country was of A&T, addressed a $ee Page 2 )n, Pride He i with Fire D 4 The reason the group succeeded was due to the caliber of the men employed. Their training and ex r i .i?. - f - * - pcucucc was iar aoovc mai or ine otner trainees," Williams said. He continued, "the mayor at the time was Marshall Kurfees, and he was not opposed to the idea of hiring black firemen. Another alderman, Charles Church, supported the idea from the beginning. So, together the three of us had to get the other aldermen to go along with the plan. The NAACP was also instrumental in helping get these men hired." Williams began pushing the idea of hiring black firefighters in 1947 and it took more than three years for the program to gain ground. "There was a station right in the heart of the black community on Dunleith that had never had a black fireman and I felt that the community had a right to have blacks working in their community. Williams said that when the fire department was r First Hlaclc FYreftghterar \ An tndepth kx*k at 30 vrar# with the 1 WSFD ^ See Page 1 *m Ghr*i Community Since 19 74" -J. Saturday, March 7, I98I > T ^\\ mm rM ^ * l~~ JL?t?i ViA&I j ti!iCiiJk4A4. This lady trapeze artist is one of only three black entertainers with Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus. iiiiMiiiimiHiimiiiiiiiHiimmmiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimmiiimiiiiiiiiiii Bryant May Oppose Newell t Retired educator and ReynoldrHigh School is berealtor William* A. Bryant ing urged by members of his may challenge East Ward community to run for Mrs. Alderman Virginia K. Newell's seat, because as Newell in this fall's elec- one of his supporters said, tion, according to a source, "she's just not doing Bryant, who retired anything." several years ago as an Although he said that he assistant pnnc.pal at R. J. rea,|y hadn<t made up hjs mind, Bryant said that he A ft r m j had given the matter "some f /I ACj- I consideration," and would ' AA, JL definitely make up his mind in time for the July filing JHfe: date should he decide to challenge Mrs. Newell. *"* Sources in the East Ward ^ t0^ chronicle i^at Wt^?^FL^Sr^K: i should Bryant decide not to m run, the community would I ^ave P?ssibly another candidate to run against the PV I current alderman. _?* I Sources also told the Chronicle that challengers I were being sought in the H;l Northeast Ward to run :l against Alderman Vivian Burke, however, no name Jessie Jackson was readily available. illmarks epartment operated on an "all-volunteer" basis, blacks were, welcomed and participated, but, when the city took over the fire department and firefighters were paid, "blacks were nushed out." 44l felt it was time to get blacks back in the system, he said. When the Board of Aldermen finally did vote on the issue of whether to hire black firefighters or not, the vote was split four to four. Kurfees broke the tie and voted in favor of the hiring pushing the proposal to victory. The selection process for the city's first black firefighters was an awesome task, according to Williams because the city's first also had to be the finest. 44I feel the city got a bonus because all of us had either graduated or had some college exposure prior to becoming a fireman," said Raphael O. Black, one of the original "Company Four." See Haze II I I Highlights of 4km week, 's See Insert -?===?? oi\icle *? *20 cents 55 Pages This Week Law Students' Bias Case Js_DismissecL By Donna Oldham upon which relief can be Staff Writer granted, and 3. Failure to join a necessary party. Wake County Superior Hobgood allowed the seCourt Judge Hamilton cond motion and would not 11/%W??/J f ? I??? a/J ?% A a nuugv-?vu ji M nas ^i3iui?eu auuiCM uic umci iwu. the case of 11 black law According to Denise school graduates who filed Welch and Clifton Graves suit against the Board of Jr., both of WinstonLaw Examiners of the State Salem, two plaintiffs in the of North Carolina. case, their attorney, gave The 11, who all failed the notice of appeal in open exam last year, have since court after Hobgood taken the exam and are dismissed the case, waiting their scores which "We're getting our file are due the first week in together and preparing to April. perfect the appeal. We They charged that the were optimistic but we were board unlawfully and il- realistic, so the outcome legally denied them their wasn't unexpected," said due process rights by not Graves, providing them with a con- The two said that they stitutionally adequate level have gotten calls from white of review after they were and black members of the notified that they had failed legal community offering the exam. their support. Other proThe board in turn asked fessional organizations inHobgood to dismiss the ac- eluding a nurses' group and .tionsforl. Lack of subject the North Carolina matter jurisdiction. 2. Association of Black Social Failure to state a claim $ee pg^e y Gregory Urges: * 'Be Prepared!' By B. Hauser to the Chronicle Dick Gregory delivered what he called a moral V message to a near capaudience Wait Chapel, Wake Forest Univlast Tuesday. Although he spoke for 1 nearly three hours, most \ of his audience was on hand D/c* Gregory when he finished. Gregory urged his listeners to use the God force within them to stop the playing of games sponsored by a few old greedy manipulators while the masses are being ripped off. "This will be a big job," he said, "but united, we Sec Page 19 PI w ^ - !'* pjj; * " wEEpr ^ jjH * Fire Chief Lester Ervin

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