TRIBUNAL AID
A VIABLE, VALID REQUIREMENT
RESPONDING TO
BLACK NORTH CAROLINA
> OLLIVIE n . no.22 ^ TD>TSDA\, NOVEMBER 3,1976
S6.(M> PER EAR
2,'i CENTS
ME.MBER: North Carolina Black Publishers Association
North (i.trolina Press Association. Inc.
-
The 1976 Editions of THE TR1BL > ,4L AID will
be dedicated to America’s bicentennial (Vle-
bration. with emphasis on contributions our Race
has made in the making of America, from
birth to th.. present.
In 1976 there should not tM- a need to lift these
contributions from isolated sourc‘S. Our past
should ne interwo\en into the fabric of our ci-
\ilization. because \\e are. t‘\cepl for th(‘ Indian.
\merica s ohbvst -lhnic rninoritv.
VC e ha\e helped make America what it was.
and what it i>. since the founding of \ irginia.
We have bet'n a fact»r in nian\ major issues in
our histor\. Tht're have been man\ misdeeds
against u-. vet vn- have been able lo h've through
thetn and light back. This is living proof of our
hi^torv.
(lur role in the tnakiiig oi Vmerica is neither
well known or correctlv known. Marn positivf'
contributions luive e-.(’aped liistitrians and have
not lound their wav into the pages tf nianv
historv books.
We will strive t(> give'readers. Black anl
white, main little-known facts about our past
and it is hoped that a proper p‘rsp‘Ctive of our
historv will be of value to p(Tsnis who mav
believe that as lllack people we Iiav(‘ au urt-’
vvorthv past: and hi'nce. no strong claims to
all right-of other \inericans.
Faye Ashe, Blark History Editor
A paradox of the
democratic experiinent in
America has been the
presence of racial segrega
tion in the midst of a free
society. Segregation sanc
tioned by state laws was the
kind of “unfreedom” which
was inconsistent with the
principles basic to Ameri
can Political Philosophy
and the body of ideals and
values which are under
stood as “the American
way of life” or “the
American Dream”. Ameri
ca has championed the
freedom of people all over
the world, yet Black
Americans are still struggl
ing to be free at home.
For most of the century
following their emancipa
tion, most Black Americans
accommodated themselves
to the patterns of segrega
tion, Accommodation did
not mean acceptance.
There were always islands
of protest rejecting the
prevailing laws of segrega
tion. The hope and
determination to be com
pletely free has been a part
of the entire history of the
Black sojourn in America.
The “Protest Movement”
as we know it today is
rooted in the activities of
individuals and groups,
who over a period almost as
long as our National history
established the beachheads
which made possible to
day’s civil rights offensive.
Another paradox is that
the protest movements
represent the combined
efforts of thousands of
Blacks and Whites working
together in the national
interest and not merely in
the peculiar interests of
Blacks. The matter of racial
segregation was more than
a social or political issue. It
was a moral issue as well.
Americans were willing to
involve themselves in the
efforts of equality. These
Americans came from all
walks of life, some were
ministers, laborers, college
students, creative artists,
housewives, and high
school boys and girls, all
gave their time and energy
and some gave their lives to
help rid their country of the
blight of a two-caste
society. The protest move
ment is a symptom of deep
social conflict which has
distorted the normal social
relations between groups of
people. It is as expression
of the anxiety and discon
tent of one group reacting
against what is perceived
as the abuse of power by
some other group. Protest
is a way to communicate to
the white man how much
Blacks resent segregation
and discrimination.
In spite of presistent
protest, in 1963 thirty-five
(35) homes and churches
were bombed and at least
ten (10) people were killed.
930 demonstrations were
held in the South alone.
Twenty thousand demon
strators were arested, most
PROTESI MOVEMENTS FOR NEGRO RIGHTS
4 %
Ax.
An artist painted this portrait of Singbe, or
Joseph Cinque as he was also called, while he
was in Connecticut.
of them from the militant
student organizations.
Hundreds of others were
shocked by cattle prods,
pummeled by high pres
sure hoses, bitten by dogs
and beaten by policemen.
In 1964, at least twelve (12)
churches were burned and
three civil rights workers
killed in Mississippi. In
1965 Rev. James Reeb and
Mrs. Viola Luizzo were
murdered in the Civil
Rights struggle in Ala
bama. These acts are
examples of the backlash of
reactionary groups in
America to the forward
strides of the Civil Rights
Movement. Yet the Pro
tests were continued.
PROTEST DURING
SLAVERY
It is estimated that as
many as eighteen to twenty
million slaves were sent to
the New World during the
slave era. It is likely that
half as many more perished
during the so-called middle
passage, - the shipboard
journey from Africa to the
Americas. Conditions un
der which they were
transported made for high
mortality rate aboard ship,
for generally, slaves were
chained between decks only
forty-eight inches high.
Crocheing in their own filth
with no sunlight and a
minimum of fresh air, they
expired in large numbers
and were thrown overboard
to the sharks which trailed
slave ships. Many others
died in individual protest
against their abduction and
enslavement. Some refused
to eat and starved them
selves to death. Others
leaped overboard and
drowned themselves in the
sea. Some ripped their
throats and bled to death.
Opportunities for concerted
action were infrequent, but
at least fifty slave revolts
occured at sea.
The best known revolt
involves CINQUE, the son
of a chief of the MENDI
PEOPLE in SIERRA
LEONE. In 1839 CINQUE
and his fellow prisoners
captured the slave ship
AMISTAD, and upon being
recaptured and imprisoned
in New Haven, they
became the subjects of an
important trial involving
some of the fundamental
issues of slavery and the
slave trade. John Quincy
Adams, who had served as
the sixth president of the
United States (1824) suc
cessfully argued their
appeal from an order of a
lower court for their
re-enslavement.
INSURRECTIONS
The first slaves brought
to America were landed in
Jamestown. Virginia in
1619, but slavery as an
institution was not fully
crystallized until the last
quarter of the seventeenth
century. This was a
relatively late date in the
history of Black slavery in
the West, for by this time
the practice was already old
in Europe and South
America and very ancient
in Asia and Africa. Portugal
was importing slaves from
Africa as early as 1442 and
continued to do so for the
greater part of four
centuries. In America, as in
the Caribbean and else
where, Blacks mounted
many protest against their
conditions of servitude.
One of the most successful
slave revolts was led by
TOUSSAINT L’OUVER-
TUDE against the French
on the Island of Haiti.
TOUSSAINT’S success in
this uprising gave the New
World its first republic.
In the United States at
least as many as two
hundred uprisings took
place during the two and
one-half centuries of sla
very. The uprisings or
revolts differed widely in
form, purpose and leader
ship, but they shared in
common an insistent ele
ment of protest. Most
revolts were led by slaves,
and the fundamental pur
pose of such revolts were
freedom. However free
Blacks like DENMARK
VESEY, and slave leader
GABRIEL PROSSER, were
concerned with more than
personal freedom. They
sought the overthrow of the
system. PROSSER’s intent
was to establish a Black
State in Virginia, anticipat
ing ELIJAH MUHAMMED
by 150 years. In New York
City in 1741, an alleged
conspiracy between Blacks
and poor Whites to seize
the city threw the towns
people into a panic.
Although there was no
substantial evidence to
support the charges, eigh
teen Blacks were hanged,
thirteen burned alive and
seventy banished. Two
White women and two
White men were hanged
also. None of the Black
insurrections succeeded.
The State, law, economic
interest, religion and cus
tom were all counter forces
of any possibility of
success. During most of
this period Blacks had no
allies except an occasional
White liberal who dared to
face .social disapproval, and
frequently legal sanctions
as well. Despite the odds
and terrible reprisals,
protest continued.
INDIVIDUAL PROTEST
The most frequent in
stances of protest against
slavery were made by
individuals, or were con
spiracies between only two
or three Blacks. Murder
and arson were common
protest forms, ground glass
and poison were favorite
murder weapons. Theft,
malingering, suicide, the
destruction of livestock and
harvested crop, the sabo
tage of dikes, and dams,
and machinery were also
widely known. Infanticide
was an extreme form of
protest practiced frequently
by Black mothers. The
commoiicst foiiil oi' proitbt
was running away. Runn
ing away was so prevalent
a phenomenon that the
physicians of the period
thought it to be a disease
indigenous to Blacks and
gave it the name “MON
OMANIA”. Lying, jokes
about Whites, and militant
spirituals were other forms
of protest.
PROTEST AND SLAVERY
During the slave era the
white man owned whatever
there was in the slave that
could be reduced to
property value and protect-
The captive Africans held aboard the
Amistad attack Captain Ferrer as the cook at
tempts to escape.
ed by law. The slave had no his condition was condi-
rights that a white man was tioned severly by the fact
bound to respect. As a that he was a chattel. The
consequence, the range of Emancipation Proclamation
the slaves’ protest against and the Thirteenth. Four-
An illustration in a
newspaperaroundl860
shows the slave deck
of the bark Wildfire.
teenth and Fifteenth A-
mendments to the Constitu
tion purported to free the
slave, make him a citizen
and give him the franchise.
But because of custom,
tradition and political
collusion between the
North and South the intent
of law was emasculated. In
less than a generation after
Blacks were made “citi
zens” and given the right
to vote, that right was
challenged and abrogated
severely throughout msot
of the South by one
deception or another. IN A
DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY
THE BALLOT IS THE
MOST SOPHISTICATED
INSTRUMENT OF PRO
TEST OR APPROVAL.
Since Blackw were largely
disfranchised in most of the
South, other means of
protest had to be develop
ed.
Reference:
Negro Heritage Library
Vol. II
Prince Hall Masonic News
HOPE MILLS - Mr.
Charles R. Smith, Rt. 1,
Box 56A, Hope Mills, N.C.
28348
Mr. Smith who is only
four feet, eight inches tall
and weighs 105 is the
Junior Warden of Eureka
Lodge No. E. of Fayette
ville, N.C. He is a Watch
Maker by trade. He is a
graduate of East New York
Vocational Technical High
School, Joseph Bulovia
School of Watch Making,
New York City; Wayne
Community College,
Goldsboro, N.C.; First
Black Certified Watch
Maker, First Black Licens
ed Watch Maker in North
Carolina. He is certified by
the American Watch Mak
ers Institute of Cincinnati,
Ohio. He is a member of
the Board of Directors of
North Carolina Watch
Makers Association; also
he is a member Cape Fear
Watch Makers Guild of
Fayetteville, N.C. where he
serves as Secretary-Trea-
surer.
He is the youngest of
eight children who are of
normal weight and size.
Sisters he is single and will
make you a nice play boy.
He is fully grown, - in his
late twenties.
1
MONROE - E.L. Belton,
813 Fourth St. has been
named Secretary of the
Year by the Prince Hall
Lodge of Free and accepted
Masons of the Jurisdiction
of North Carolina. Belton,
of Hope Lodge #32 in
Monroe, N.C. received the
distinction for performing
the most efficient secreta
rial duties wit|iin the
jurisdiction of 300 lodges.
Administering the award
with Belton are Cleveland
Huntley (right) Worship
ped Master, and Paul
Poston, Grand District
Deputy. Mr. E.L. Belton
accepted a new position as
Dean of Men at Clinton Jr.
College in Rockhill, S.C. in
August 1976.
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1776 Honoring America's Bicentennial 1976
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