Some More 2020 Deaths: Neal, Lowery, Withers

MARCH 2020

FRED "CURLY" NEAL, 77

The dribbling wizard who entertained millions with the Harlem Globetrotters.  March 26.

THE REV. JOSEPH E. LOWERY, 98

A veteran civil rights leader who helped the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.  March 27

BILL WITHERS, 81

He wrote and sang songs in the 1970s including "Lean on Me," "Lovely Day" and "Ain't No Sunshine."  March 30.

Ebony, Jet Photo Archive Fetches $30 Million at Auction

From the July 26, 2019, Chicago Sun-Times by Sam Charles and Mitchell Armentrout.

The iconic photo archive of Ebony and Jet magazines, which chronicled 70 years' worth of black history and culture, has a new owner.

A consortium of philanthropic groups announced its $30 million acquisition at auction, Thursday from Johnson Publishing, Ebony's parent company and promised to donate the treasure trove of history to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Getty Institution and other leading cultural institutions.

The collection has more than 4 million prints and negatives including photographs of Martin Luther King Jr., Sammy Davis Jr., Diana Ross, Nat "King" Cole, Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson, Prince and Stevie Wonder and many others.

There are also photos of everyday life for black Americans from church to food to fashion.

As a history person, I am so glad these people bought the photos and are donating them to organizations who will take care of them as well as make them available to the public.

Thanks.  --Cooter

The Chicago 1919 Race Riot-- Part 2: Sunday, July 27, 1919

Yesterday marked the 100th anniversary of the beginning of this tragic event in Chicago.  As I have already stated, 38 people -- 23 Black and 15 White; 520 injured -- 2/3 Black and Whites torched the homes of some 1,000 Blacks.

It lasted for a week.

From the July 26, 2019, Chicago Sun-Times  "Ride reflects on city's most violent week" by Maudlyne Ihejirika.

Sadly, there is little to mark it in Chicago.  The only permanent thing is a marker near 29th Street.  It reads:

"A RIOT IS THE LANGUAGE OF THE UNHEARD."   Dr. Martin Luther King.

Dedicated to all the victims of the Race Riot that began near this place.

Sunday, July 27, 1919 a group of boys rafting on Lake Michigan drifted over an invisible racial barrier.  Rocks were thrown from the breakwater and Eugene Williams was struck.  His drowning sparked a week-long race riot that resulted in scores of deaths and injuries.

"DARKNESS CANNOT DRIVE OUT DARKNESS:  ONLY LIGHT CAN DO THAT.  HATE CANNOT DRIVE OUT HATE:  ONLY LOVE CAN DO THAT."  Dr. martin Luther King.

Sponsored by the students from York High School, Elmhurst, Illinois and Chicago Park District 2002.

Just One Marker?

Arrest Records of 9 Men in Famed Sit-In to be Erased

From the January 28, 2015, Chicago Tribune by Meg Kinnard, AP

Nine black men arrested for integrating a whites-only South Carolina lunch counter nearly 54 years ago made them heroes in the Civil Rights movement, but the law still considered them guilty of trespassing.

On Wednesday, a Rock Hill, S.C., judge is expected to vacate the arrests and convictions of the men known as the Friendship Nine.

The eight students at Rock Hill's Friendship JuniorCollege:  Willie McCleod, John Gaines, Clarence Graham, W.T. "Dub" Massey, James Wells, David Wiilliamson Jr., Mack Workman and Robert McCullough (who died in 2006) were led by activist Thomas Gaither of the Congress of Racial Equality.

About a year had passed since the better-known lunch counter encounter at the Woolworth's in Greensboro, N.C. and they decided to do it in January 1961 at the white's-only lunch counter at McCrory's variety store.

They were arrested and convicted of trespassing and breach of the peace and opted for a month's hard labor rather than post bail.

Although their records are to be cleared, the men hope their nonviolence can be an example to protesters today.  "We still insist that nonviolence is the way to go," said Clarence Graham.  I think MLK would agree as well.

I am glad this happened.  They were very brave to challenge a horrible system intended to keep blacks down.

LBJ Letter to MLK's Widow Up For Auction

From the Feb. 20, 2015, Chicago Tribune "LBJ letter to King's widow up for auction" by Ian Shapira, the Washington Post.

It was written April 5, 1968, the day after Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in Memphis, Tennessee.  And it was sent by President Lyndon B. Johnson to Coretta Scott King to express his condolences and determination to find the murderer.

"We will overcome this calamity," he wrote.  She kept it until 2003 when she gave it to her husband's confidant, singer Harry Belafonte.

But he considered auctioning it in 2008, shortly before Coretta King died and King's three children objected and it wasn't.

But now, it is slated to be auctioned again.  Belafonte gifted the letter to his half-sister and brother-in-law who figured it was a good time to sell it because of all the 50 anniversary of the Civil Rights movement going on these days.  The minimum bid is $60,000.

They seem to be a bit too money-oriented and should have gifted it or sold it for a low price to the Civil Rights museum in  Memphis.

A followup in March in Reuters said it sold for $60,000 to an online bidder, but auctioneers had been expecting twice as much as I am sure Belafonte's relatives were as well.  Too bad, a piece of American history gone.

2015 Anniversaries-- Part 2

50TH-- MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.'S FIRST MARCH AT SELMA, March 7:  It would take three attempts before the marchers finally made it from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, during a year full of Civil Rights milestones.  Retrospective coverage will also likely focus on the assassination of Malcolm X on February 21 in New York City.

50TH--  FILM PREMIER OF "THE SOUND OF MUSIC", March 2:  Julie Andrews as Maria was a revelation, Time wrote.  "Nearly all of the requirements for what moviemakers tout as wholesome family entertainment" were met.

75TH--    McDONALD'S OPENING, May 15:  Brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the first restaurant to bear their name in San Bernardino, California.  Ray Kroc later took the franchise global; today, there are more than 35,000 locations worldwide.

150TH--  END OF THE CIVIL WAR, April 9th:  The sesquicentennial of the U.S.'s bloodiest conflict is about to draw to a close as the date arrives on which Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant.  And April 14th marks the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's assassination.

Remember Any of These?  --DaCoot

Fifty Years Ago This Week-- Part 4: Selma Civil Rights Marches

"It was more dangerous for African-Americans to march in Alabama on March 7 [1951] than it was for Marines to land on a beach in South Vietnam.  State troopers, under orders from Alabama Gov. George Wallace, reacted violently to the right-to-vote demonstration, firing tear gas into the crowd and clubbing people with nightsticks.

"After "'Bloody Sunday,' Selma became ground zero in the civil rights movement.  King led a second, largely peaceful march of more than 2,500 protesters March 9.  Later that day, five men attacked three out-of-town white ministers.  The Rev. James Reeb was beaten so badly he would die two days later.

"On March 21, tens of thousands of marchers, led by King and protected by hundreds of soldiers, began a successful three-day trek to the state capital.  President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law less than five months later.

--DaCoot

Fifty Years Ago This Week-- Part 1 "A Remarkable Confluence of Events"

From the March 8, 2015, Chicago Tribune "Chicago Flashback: Hitting Rewind of Historic Week" by Stephan Benzkofer.

"This week 50 years ago saw a remarkable confluence of events that in striking ways echoes in 2015.  In March 1865, the United States took a huge step to escalate its role in Vietnam; a former Illinois governor was on trial for tax evasion; the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led the historic march from Selma, Alabama,;  and a Cook County judge's ruling that police mishandles the arrest of two Latino men exploded into a major controversy.

"A half century later, U.S. war planes bomb Islamic State flighters; the effect of money on campaigns and candidates remains as issue; the movie "Selma" recreates MLK's landmark walk and sparks its own controversy; and the U.S. department of Justice declares that Ferguson, Mo., police regularly violated the civil rights of African-American residents."

And, Mr. Benzkofer goes further to say that recently the Grateful Dead sold out multiple Soldier Field concerts this summer.  The band formed in 1965.

Also of interest, the cost of a Tribune 50 years ago was 10 cents weekdays and 25 cents on Sundays.  Today it is $1.50 on weekdays and $3 on Sundays.

Only a Deadhead.  --Cooter

Comparing Lincoln to King on the 50th of "I Have a Dream"

From the August 28, 2013, USA Today. USA Snapshots "'Dream' speeched echoed Lincoln"

"Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech, delivered 50 years ago today-- came 100 years after President Lincoln's famous speech (at Gettysburg). Here's how they compare. Gettysburg first, Dream second:

SPEAKER: Lincoln /// King

YEAR: 1863 /// 1963

NUMBER OF WORDS: 272 /// 1652

TIME: 3 minutes /// 17 minutes

OPENING LINE: "Four score and seven years ago...." /// "Five score years ago, a great American signed the Emancipation Proclamation."

--Cooter

In Memory of Martin Luther King Jr-- Part 4

10.  THE MISSING PRESIDENT.  Although Johnson declared a national day of mourning, he didn't attend the funeral.  Because of the controversy surrounding the Vietnam War, he made few public appearances in 1968.  Vice President Hubert Humphrey went in his place.


11.  THE MOTEL-TURNED-MUSEUM  The Lorraine Motel is now part of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.  Visitors can see the room preserved behind glass where King was staying along with the balcony where he was shot and the courtyard.


12.  THE FINAL WISHES  During the first funeral, mourners heard a recording of the last sermon King delivered in his church.  He spoke about how he would like to be remembered at his funeral:  "I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to give his life serving others. ...I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity."

A Great Man.

In Memory of Martin Luther King Jr-- Part 3

7.  THE SANITATION WORKERS STRIKE continued on after the assassination.On April 8th, King's widow, Coretta Scott King, SCLC and union leaders led a march of 42,000 people through Memphis.  On April 16th,a negotiated deal was made and the city recognized the union and workers were guaranteed a better wage.


8.  THE U2 LYRICS  in the song "Pride (In the Name of Love" by U2, commemorates the assassination: "Early morning, April 4/Shot rings out in the Memphis sky."  Actually that's a mistake as the assassination took place in the early evening.


9.  THE WORDS AND MUSIC THAT STOPPED THE RIOTS.  Sadly, in the aftermath of the assassination, riots erupted in cities across the country.  A speech in Indianapolis by Robert Kennedy is widely credited with preventing a riot there.  A concert by James Brown in Boston is believed to have a calming effect.

In Memory of Martin Luther King Jr.-- Part 2

4.  THE MYSTERIOUS "RAOUL":  James Earl Ray, King's killer, implicated a man named "Raoul" in the assassination, claiming to have been framed by him.  "Raoul" was never found.


5.  THE FUNERALS:  On April 9th, thousands of mourners followed a mule-drawn wooden wagon carrying King's coffin through the streets of Atlanta after the first funeral, at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King was once minister.

The second service was a public one at Morehouse College, King's alma mater.


6.  THE RECORD-SETTING INVESTIGATION:  The investigation that led to James Earl Ray's arrest was the largest at the time in FBI history.  Agents and Memphis police found that Ray, a 40-year-old escaped convict, had registered April 4th at a boarding house with a view of the Lorraine Motel.

In Memory of Martin Luther King Jr.-- Part 1

From the April 4, 2013, Chicago Tribune "In memory of a civil rights icon."

King was killed April 4, 1968, 45 years ago.  Here are 12 details about his death and aftermath from Stanford University's Martin Luther King Jr. research and Education Institute.

1.  THE CITY:  King, 39, was in Memphis preparing for a march in support of striking sanitation workers.  In February, two garbage collectors were crushed by a malfunctioning truck, which caused the strike.


2.  THE LAST TO SEE HIM:  The evening of April 4th, King planned to have dinner with ministers Samuel Billy Kyles and Ralph Abernathy.  They were at the Lorraine Motel when King was shot and remained at his side at the hospital where he died.


3.  THE DAY OF MOURNING:  President Lyndon Johnson ordered a national day of mourning April 7th.  museums, business schools closed and the 40th Annual Academy Awards was rescheduled to April 10th.

New Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial in Washington, DC

From the March 30th USA Today.

After 15 years of planning and nearly five years of construction. the MLK, Jr., National memorial will be officially open August 28, 2011, the anniversary of his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. It features three granite sculptures overlooking the Tidal Basin and the Jefferson Memorial.

he is the first non-president to be honored on the Mall.

Visitors will enter through the "Mountain of Despair and then go to the "Stone of Hope." This is a reference to a line from his "I Have a Dream" speech.

There will be a 3,000 square-foot bookstore, two inscription walls with King's messages.

Landscaping will have Yoshino cherry trees and 35 elm trees.

The statue of Dr. King is 28 feet 6 inches tall (dwarfing those of Jefferson (19 feet) Lincoln (19 feet). It was authorized by Congress in 1996 and sculpted in China by Lei Yi Xin.

Cost of the memorial is $120 million, mostly raised by private donations. Site covers 4 acres.

Something Else to See in DC. --Cooter