Professor pens bio about her hometown hero
BY LAYLAQAKMS
THE CHKONICLE
As a girl in Omaha,
: Neb., Salem College
Professor Dr. Tekla
Johnson remembers State
Sen. Ernie Chambers as
being larger than life, a
powerful figure in the
African American com
munity who stood strong
- and often alone in the
Nebraska legislature -
fighting injustice wher
ever he saw it.
In the decades that
have followed, Johnson,
47, says her admiration
?for Chambers, who was
Nebraska's lone African
American senator for
most of his 37-year
career, has grown.
"He was a very, very
powerful man in the com
munity," related Johnson,
who has taught history at
Salem since 2010. "...He
really became the voice
of the African American
freedom movement in
that state because he
would not compromise.
Despite his stature,
Chambers maintained
close ties to the commu
nity, maintaing his job as
a barber and passing leg
islation to allow his con
stituents to call his office
collect, Johnson said.
Chambers, the longest
serving senator in
Nebraska state history,
lost his District 11 seat in
2009, after term limit leg
islation was passed.
"They passed term
limits to get him out,
because he was known
for filibusters and sort of
backing up the works
when he doesn't get
something he wants for
his constituency,"
Johnson said. "...In his
final years in office, they
dubbed him 'the dean of
the legislature.' He was
by far - in terms of stop
ping the legislation - the
most powerful legislator
the state senate had ever
r
seen."
Using the storied his
tory of African
Americans in Nebraska
as a backdrop, Johnson
explores Chambers'
remarkable career in her
forthcoming political
biography, "Free Radical:
Ernest Chambers, Black
Power and the Politics of
Race," which is slated to
be published later this
month.
The attempt of this
book was to say, 'This
was why he was returned
to office so many
times,'" explained the
University of Nebraska
Lincoln alumna. The
majority of the communi
ty has seen him as repre
senting them in office."
Though he worked
hard to be accessible and
accountable to his con
stituents, Chambers was
known for being fiercely
protective of his personal
life, and rarely allowed
outsiders to glimpse the
man behind the move
ment, Johnson said. As a
result, "Free Radical" is
the first published biog
raphy of his career.
Johnson spent nearly a
decade researching and
conferring with the sena
tor, first for her disserta
tion and later for the
book.
"Everyone was sur
prised when he did allow
me to do it," commented
the mother of three. "He
treated me as a daughter
of the community."
"Free Radical" chron
icles Chambers' famous
battles with Omaha city
officials over controver
sial issues, such as police
violence, which Johnson
says was a regular occur
rence in the predominant
ly white state at the time.
Because he remained
politically Unaffiliated,
Chambers was always
free to speak his mind,
which was what inspired
the name of the book, she
said.
"We call the book
'Free Radica' for one rea
son because he remained
absolutely independent,"
Johnson explained. "He
didn't have to tow the
party line."
Over the course of his
career. Chambers was a
leader in addressing civil
rights issues, including
the lawsuit that forced
Omaha Citv Schools to
fully integrate
in 1975; a re?- r~
olution to
divest state J
funds from
Apartheid I
South Africa;
and the 1969 "
police shoot
ing of Vivian g
Strong.]
Though she
was just a girl.
Johnson, the
third of four girls in her
family, still remembers
her father lifting her up to
peer into Strong's casket
when her family attended
the memorial service.
"She looked like a
princess," Johnson said
of Strong, who was 14
years-old and unarmed at
the time of her death.
Chambers also helped
to open the door for other
African Americans, by
helping to pass legisla
tion that established leg
islative districts in major
ity African American
communities, Johnson
said. Having completed
his required four-year
break from the legisla
ture, Chambers, now 75,
is again running for
office. He will face off
against incumbent
Brenda Council, a
Democrat on Nov. 6, .the
same day that Johnson
will host a reading of
"Free Radical" and a
question and answer ses
sion in the Shirley
Recital Hall of Salem's
Elberson Fine Arts
Center. The 7:30 p.m.
event is free and open to
the public.
"We try to involve
faculty authors whenever
we can" said Aimee
Mepham, inter
im director of
the Center for
Women Writers
at Salem. "I
think it's a great
experience for
student* to see
faculty mem
bers working on
their own proj
ects. The pres
ence in the
classroom and
teaching is certainly the
top priority here at
Salem, but I think it's
good for students to see
teachers working on
other projects. I think it
can be inspirational for
them."
Mepham, a native of
Dearborn, Mich., said she
felt Nov. 6 - Election
Day - was a befitting
date for a political book
reading.
"It's nicely tied to the
book," remarked the
Washington University in
St. Louis alumna. "If
people who come to hear
her talk can be excited
about being engaged in
the political process, I
think that would be a
great outcome."
Hardcover editions of
"Free Radical" will be
available for sale in the
Salem College campus
bookstore and at
www Amazon com or bar
nesandnoble.com. A sub
sequent book signing is
slated for February 2013.
For more information,
visit wwwjalem.edu.
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Photos by Layia (krau
Dr. Tekla Johnson on the Salem College campus.
Pboto courtesy of Dr. Jahnaan
Ernie Chambers speaks at a mock funeral protest.
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