THE BETTER WE KNOW US
• •
fflGH POINT - Mrs. Letitia B.
Johnson, wife, mother and career
woman. A rare combination among
today’s demands of specializations.
From high school drop-out to GS-9...all
because of attitude! Mrs. Johnson is a
living Cinderella testimony.
A product of “The Projects” (Daniel
Brooks) in High Point, Letitia attended
the now defunct Leonard Street
Elementary School before entering the
former William Penn High School.
During her senior year, “Tish”
(childhood' nickname) chose marriage
instead of graduation and dropped out of
school in 1959 seeking to become a wife
and an seemingly ever-escaping “adult”.
After discovering that adulthood
carried along with it certain responsibili
ties, of which she did not have, “Tish”
began viewing life from
perspective. She quickly found that first
of all, there were no jobs for the
untrained, especially for blacks, and that
simply sitting at home was just not
enough. By September, 1963, she had
decided to return to high school and get
her diploma - which she received in June
of 1964.
Her first employment was in a factory
working in a dull, dead-end job that had
no future. Not giving up her dreams, she
soon began seeking other employment
and later was employed as bookkeeper
and secretary at Friendly Leader Broom
Factory. When that business moved its
operation to another city, “Tish” was
then hired at B&C Associates as a
secretary. She later went to work for the
City of High Point as the first Black clerk.
by Albert A. Campbell
i different
Feeling that she still had not developed
to her full potential, “Tish” entered
North Carolina A&T State University in
1970 to study accounting. While a
full-time student, she also maintained her
role of wife and mother as well as a
part-time job. In 1974 she graduated
summa cum laude and No. 1 in the School
of Business & Finance. She also found
time for the Alobeaem Society,
Accounting Club, and two honor
societies; Alpha Chi and Alpha Kappa
Mu. She was one of only four females in
the graduating class of Accounting in
1974.
Immediately, job offers came from all
over the country. Two of which were frm
the General Motors in Detroit, Michigan,
and the Internal Revenue Service. But
because of what “Tish” felt to be
well-placed advice, she chose the I.R.S.
During the 1973 Summer, Mrs.
Johnson accepted an opportunity from
the I.R.S. and attended Basic Revenue
Agents Training in Atlanta, Georgia.
That exposure, along with instructional
advice, made her more aware of the
better opportunities with the I.R.S. She
had already worked in a Cooperative
Educational Program as a Revenue Agent
Intern during her senior year at A&T.
She began employment with a
classification of Grade 4 (GS-4). she
stusequently took three more courses in
Tax Law and quickly advanced to GS-9.
Because there were only a few females
in the Greensboro District of the I.R.S.
and she was the only Black woman, the
THE TRIBUNAL AID
A VIABLE, VALID REQUIREMENT
RESPONDING TO
BLACK NORTH CAROLINA
VOLUME m, NO. 39
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUAKY 18,1976
$5.00 PER YEAR CENTS PRESS RUN 8,500
MEMBER: North Carolina Black Publishers Association — North Carolina Press Association, Inc.
■oooooocK»oeo0eoooeoex3o^ Ic
BICENTENNIAL
BLACK HISTORY
“Lost-Strayed-Or Stolen ”
Extracted From
THE NEGRO ALMANAC
by Fay Ashe
eft o B QOQ'BOPoogoooooocaooooAo
The 1976 Editions of THE TRIBUNAL AID
will be dedicated to America’s bicentennial
Celebration, with emphasis on contributions
our Race has made in the making of America,
from birth to the present. »
In 1976 there should not be a need to lift
these contributions from isolated sources. Our
past should be interwoven into the fabric of
our civilization, because we are, except for the
Indian, America’s oldest ethnic minority.
We have helped male America what it was,
and what it is, since the founding of Virginia.
We have been a factor in many m^Jor issues in
our history. There have been many misdeeds
against us, yet we have been able to live
through them and fight back. This is living
proof of our history.
Our role in the making of America is neither
well iuiown or correctly known. Many positive
contributions have escaped historians and
have not found their way into the pages of
Fay Ashe, Black History Editor
many history books.
We will strive to give readers. Black and
white, many little-known facts about our past
and it is hoped that a proper perspective of our
history will be of value to persons who may
believe that as Black People we have an
unworthy past; and hence, no strong claims to
all rights of other Americans.
The Black Church
In the area of Religion seemed that the churches institution of slavery. For
the Black man showed the of the New Nation would example, in 1784 the
most determined efforts to insist upon complete inte- Methodist declared that
secure real independence gration of the Black man slavery was “contrary to
in the post-revolutionary into the religious life of the the golden laws of God”
period. For a time, it Nation and attack the and gave their members
twelve months to liberate
Black history In the Western Hemisphere most
probably begins with the discovery of the New Worid
by Christopher Colombns in 1942. Blacks are known to
have participated meaningfolly In a nomber of later
explorations made by Europeans in various parts of the
United States and Spanish America. Facts snch as
these at once fashion a new dimension for Black history
within the mainstream of American history. Inasmuch
as one of the primary purposes of this feature Is to
record some historical achievements of the Black, It
becomes most important to offer the reader
chronological accounts through which he
conveniently familiarize himself with the broad sweep
of American Black history. The years covered here are
1492-1954.
1785: WILMINGTON,
NORTH CAROLINA
Birth of a black abolitio
nist David Walker who in
1827 establishes a second- No. 459
hand clothing business inT
1787: PHILADELPHIA
Prince Hall organizes the
first Black Masonic Lodge
in America - African Lodge
Andrew Bryan
their slaves, but Virginia
and other Southern states
forced a suspension of the
resolution. Many churches
accepted Blacks after the
war, but whites were afraid'
that a too liberal a policy
would be disastrous to the
effective control of slaves.
It was thought by Whites
that Black ministers and
church officials would
exercise too much authority
over slave members and
cause trouble on planta
tions.
The churches in America
were having trouble of their
own, and they found little
time to devote any attention
Boston and, two years
later, writes “Walker’s
Appeal", an open call to |
revolt in the South. The I
document creates such a I
Historical Landmarks'
Of Black America !
furor among slaveowners
that at least one Southern
legislature makes circula- |
tion if it a capital offense.
Extracted From
THE NEGRO ALMANAC
by Fay Ashe
No more substantial testimony to the role of the Black
1786: VIRGINIA growth and development of America can be
James, the slave of than the numerous historical landmarks in
William Armistead, is freed regions of the country which are associated with
by the state in recognition Americana. Many of these-like the Alamo and
of his spying services for Hill-are not conventionally known as sites
General Lafayette. involving chapters of Negro history.
ARIZONA, SPRINGFIELD:
1787r PHILADELPHIA Apache National Forest
Black preachers Richard Site, in the White
Allen and Absalom Jones Mountains, where troopers *“
organize the Free African of the 10th Calvarv
Society.
das on September 18. 1886.
1787: northwest territory Coloradas was one of those
Congress forbids the fierce Apache chiefs who
extension of slavery into fought desperately for
this area by virtue of the choice grazing lands for his
Born a slave in 1845,
John Swain went to
Tombstone in 1879
James Varick
, . . “j! John Slaughter, who was
captured Mangas Colora-
Northwest Ordinance.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Drotning, Phillip T, A
Guide to Negro History in
America New York: Dou
bleday and Company, 1968
Katz, William Loren
Eyewitness: The Negro in
America New York: Pitt-
people. Today the reserva
tion at Springerville con
tains millions of acres of
fertile land, the legacy of
the tenacious resistance of
the Apaches.
ARIZONA, TOMBSTONE:
John Swain [Slaughter]
Grave in Boot Hill
man Publishing Corpora- Kaiser. Er?**The Negro
tion 1967
Ploski, Harry
A.
Alamanac New York: Bel-
Phe luether Company
later to become sheriff of
this town. Swain was an
expert rider, and only one
of several Blacks to work
for Slaughter.
In 1884, Swain fought
and lost a one-round boxing
match with John L.
Sullivan, then heavyweight
champion of the world. He
died just three months
short of his 100th birthday,
and was buried with honors'
by the citizens of Tomb
stone. A special tablet
stands on the grave site,
commemorating the close
ties between the two men.
'■^3
Absalom Jones
to the problems of the Black tions, except Roman Catho- to crowd the problem of the
population. The American licism was busy organizing Black man off the church
clergy, loyal to England a wing of its church that scene, and this in part lead
caused many Americans to would be entirely separate to the establishment of
insist upon church disesta- from its European sponsor, separate churches for
blishment. All denomina- These preoccupations tend Blacks.
Black Baptist churches
began to spring up during
the War of Independence.
GEORGE LIELE, a Black
leader, founded a Baptist
church in Sanannah Geor
gia in 1779. Later LIELE
left the country and settled
in Jamica, but the work of
this church was continued
by his understudy, AN
DREW BRYAN, who
preach to Whites as well as
Blacks. At the end of the
war Whites sought to close
the church by whipping the
members and imprisoning
BRYAN: but his master
supported him and finally it
became the nucleus for the
organization of Black Bap
tists in Georgia. Blacks in
Virginia organized Baptist
churches at PETERSBURG
in 1776, RICHMOND in
1780, and at WILLIAMS
BURG in 1785. In some of
these instances they had
the cooperation of White
ministers.
In Northern communities
Blacks went farther along
the lines of establishing
independent churches, the
work of RICHARD ALLEN
and his followers is the best
example. ALLEN demon
strated his determination
by saving enough money
with which to purchase
himself from his Delaware
master in 1777, he was also
converted in the same year.
Within a few years he was
preaching and winning
favor of Bishop Asbury.
Allen moved to Philadel
phia in 1786, where he
began to hold prayer
meetings for his own
people. He proposed the
setting up a separate place
of worship for Blacks, but
was opposed by Whites and
some Blacks. It was only
after the officials of St.
George Church, where he
frequently preached, pro
posed to segregate the
large number of Blacks who
came to hear him, then it
became clear to him and
Continued on Page 8
Richard Allen
Daniel Coker
Christopher Rush
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1776 Honoring America's Bicentennial 1976