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Show PAGES PAGE 9 UNIVERSITY JOURNAL FOCUS ON: BLACK HISTORY • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2001 Religious fight for freedom Th.e beginning of the civil rights movement A moral and religious leader BY KIMBERLY SWENSON JOURNAL STAFF WRITER emergence as the most important leader of the Nation of Islam. Malcolm established mosques in Boston and Malcolm X aggressively fough't for the equality of Philadelphia with a membership of 30,000 by all men; he is marked by his life long struggle for 1963. this cause. In 1963 he had a falling out with EliJah Malcolm Little, later to be known as Malcolm X Muhammad and left the Nation of Islam, to was born on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Neb., to establish the Muslim Mosque. Inc. Earl and Louise Little. In 1964 Malcolm traveled to Mecca for his Earl Little was killed by a trolley obligatory pilgnmage. Malcolm X when Malcolm was only six years said in the book, The Autobiography old. of Malcolm X:The pilgrimage to In the years that followed the Mecca. Saudi Arabia, The Hajji, is a death, the family fell apart. journey every person of the Islamic Malcolm's mother was emotionally faith must take. · and mentally crushed and was "Never have I witnessed such , committed to a mental institution, sincere hospitality and the and the children were sent to foster overwhelming spirit of true homes. brotherhood as is practiced by With only a ninth grade education, people of all colors and races here Malcolm was encouraged to quit in the Ancient Holy Land. For the school because of his race. So, past week, I have been utterly Malcolm dropped out of school and speechless and spellbound by the moved to Boston with his stepsister. graciousness I see displayed all He first worked as a shoe shine around me by people of all colors,· boy and soon after took a job as a he said. railroad dining-car porter, in Harlem, In September 1964, he changed N. Y. his name again, to El-Hajji ElWhile in Boston, Malcolm set op Shabazz and funded a political his own house-robbing gang In Malcolm X was a leader of group. The Organization of AfroFebruary 1946, he was arrested, the Nation of Islam faith Amencan Unity. convicted and sentenced for seven and fought in the war On Feb. 21. 1965, while giving a years to the' Charleston, Mass .. speech in New York, he was shot against segregation. prison. and killed. Malcolm discarded his "slave name," Little, and "Malcolm X's hands flew to his chest as the first changed it to symbolizing his unknown African of 16 shotgun pellets or revolver slugs hit him. He tribal name. clutched his chest. His body suddenly fell back He came into public notice when a television stiffly, his head struck the stage floor with a thud ," special with Mike Wallace called, The Hate That Alex Haley said, in the epilogue of Malcolm X's Hate Produced told t~e story of Malcolm X's autobiography. ·x.· Parks started the civil rights movement in Alabama by refusing to give up her seat on a bus BY VALERI BUMAN JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Dec. 1, 1955 marked the beginning of the modern day civil rights movement. It was on this day that Rosa Parks, a tired seamstress from Montgomery, Ala., was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. Parks did not set out that day with the intent to start a new wave in the civil rights movement. She merely wanted to rest during the ride home after a long day on her feet. The opportunity that presented itself however, could not be ignored. ·1 kept thinking about my mother and my grandparents, and how strong they were,· Parks writes in her book Quiet Strength. · 1knew there was a possibility of being mistreated. but an opportunity was being given to me to do what I had asked of others.· Parks credits her strength to her mother, Leona McCauley, who taught her, "Take advantage of the opportunities, no matter how few / they are." Born in 1913 in Tuskegee, Ala., Parks was raised with a humble upbringing as the daughter of a carpenter and a teacher. At the age of two, Parks along with president of the NAACP and mother and younger brother, adviser to the NAACP Youth moved in with her grandparents. Council. She was also part .of Growing up, Parks remembers lesser-known civil rights actions hearing Ku Klux Klan members such as the push to register African-Amencans to vote. ride through the area where her home was located, burning homes It was the incident on the bus and lynching residents, wondering however, that earned her the title if her home would be next. "Mother of the Civil Rights Despite these Movement· and events Parks was introduced the raised with a feeling nation to the Rev. of self-worth. A Martin Luther King philosophy taught to Jr. and the her at the Montgomery Montgomery Improvement Industrial School for Association. Girls, a private In response to school founded by Parks arrest, King "liberal-minded and his followers women from the organized a citywide north • bus boycott, which Upon her lasted 381 days. During this time graduation from most AfricanAlabama State American residents College, Parks and her husband walked and those with cars made Raymond moved to Montgomery. There, Rosa Parks gave rise to the arrangements to car the couple became bus boycott in Montgomery, pool with friends active participants in Ala., in Dec. 1955. and even strangers. a local chapter of the Parks lost her job NAACP. and many others Parks served in many prominent were arrested under charges such as "loitering." while waiting for their positions while working with the NAACP such as secretary to the rides The boycott came to an end on Nov 13, 1956 when Alabama state and local laws requiring segregation on buses were found unconstitutional. In 1957. Parks and her husband moved to Detroit, where she still resides and is an active member of the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Following her husband's death in 1987, Parks founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for SelfDevelopment. Here youth ages 11-18 travel across the country following the Underground Railroad and visiting other historical sights involving the civil rights movement. Because of her efforts and her example, Parks has been ttie recipient of many awards such as the NAACP Spingam Medal, the Martin Luther King Jr. Award and an honorary degree from Shaw College In Quiet Strength Parks honors everyone who helped in the cause for civil rights. "Four decades later I am still uncomfortable with the credit given to me for starting the bus boycott, Parks said. "I would like [people] to know I was not the only person involved. I was just one of many who fought for freedom." .All men are created equal in. God Committee is against s~gregation Frederjck Douglass was a key leader in the pre-Civil War fight against slavery BY STACY VENTURA SENIOR STAFF WRITER At the age of 18, Douglass made his first attempt at freedom. However, he was caught and sent back to his Baltimore home with the Auld family. Frederick Douglass was one of the chief leaders of the At 20, he succeeded in escaping from slavery by abolitionist movement, the fight against slavery in the impersonating a sailor. United States decades before the Civil War. He first went to New Bedford, Mass., where he and his · However, becoming one of the foremost superiors during new wife, Anna Murray, began to raise a family. the Civil War era, he was a slave. Later, he started to attend abolitionist meetings. In Douglass was born Frederick Augustus Douglass Bailey October 1838, after attending an anti-slavery convention in February 1818, in Easton , Md., to a slave woman and a on Nantucket Island, he became a lecturer for the Mass. white man. According to law, the child followed the Anti-Slavery Society. condition of his mother and became a slave He was a colleague of William Lloyd Separated from his mother at only a few Garnson, the author of The Liberator. weeks old, Douglass was raised by his Because of this, Douglass was well informed grandparents and at age six. was taken to on abolitionist issues. the plantation of his master and left there by In 1841 , he stood up at a Gamsonhis grandmother. sponsored meeting and made a powerful At eight years old, he was sent to speech against slavery. He then embarked Baltimore to live as a houseboy with his new on a career as an abolitionist speaker and masters, Hugh and Sophia Auld, relatives of writer With this tool, Douglass wrote a book his old master. called Narrative of the Life of Fredenck Shortly after, his new mistress taught him Douglass, describing his hfe. the alphabet Due to the law. her husband Later. Douglass gave antislavery lectures proh1b1ted her to continue the instruction. in Bnta1n and collected enough money to However, Douglass took it upon himself to buy his freedom. He then relocated himself learn He would bribe the neighborhood in Rochester, N.Y. There, he founded the boys to teach him to read and write in North Star. an abolitionist newspaper exchange for ·h1s food. By 1851 , Douglass was convinced people At age 12, Douglass purchased a popular could gain most by identifying with those school book, The Columbian Orator, to help Frederick Douglass was a who sought victory at the polls. a stand that him gain an understanding and appreciation lecturer for Anti-Slavery. lost him the support of Garnson's faction of the power of the spoken and wntten Dunng the Civil War, Douglass called upon word his eloquence to urge freedom At 15, he returned to the Eastern Shore to become a After the war, Douglass supported the 14th and 15th field hand. During this time. he witnessed the most hornble amendments and continued to seek practical programs to cond1t1ons that plagued slaves. However, it was also during help blacks this time when he met a slave breaker Edward Covey. Although Douglass was nationally famous, he was Although their fight ended in a draw, 1t gave Douglass a superseded before his death as a leader of the black restored sense of self-worth. people by Booker T Washington. • BY JENNY OTOOLE JOURNAL STAFF WRITER The Rev. Jesse Jackson was born in 1941 in Greenville, S.C., to Helen Burns, an unwed teenage mother. His childhood was marked with feelings of isolation and difference. His biological father, Noah Robinson. was one of Greenville's most prosperous black citizens. while Jackson and his mother lived near poverty. Robinson refused to acknowledge Jackson until he grew into a promising athlete and scholar. Jackson took the name of his stepfather. Charles H Jackson, when he was adopted by him in 1957 In 1959. Jackson received a football scholarship to the University of Illinois When he was denied the position of quarterback, he returned to the south to the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State Oollege There he served as student body president as well as quarterback of the football team While in college, Jackson became involved with the Civil Rights Movement by protesting the white's only · local library system . He also dedicated to improving the lead demonstrations against financial station of the black segregated restaurants, community. In 1967 he theatres, and hotels. became the national When Jackson graduated in chairman. 1964 he decided to become a After King's assassination in minister. He returned to Illinois April 1968 affiliations between after accepting a scholarship from the Chicago Theological Jackson and the SCLC Seminary. leadership declined. In 1971 , Jackson left to By this time he had mamed begin a new Jacqueline Brown. project, While in operation Chicago, PUSH Originally Jackson kept named his distance People from civil United to nghts involvement, Save despite local Humanity, a organizations program designed to trying to recrµit him gain as a leader. economic In March power for 1965, blacks Jackson In the 1970s the went to Selma, Ala , name was to take part changed to In a CIVIi The Reverend Jesse Jackson People rights march helped the black community of the United to led by Martin U S to establish financial secunty Serve Humanity Luther King Jr., president of the Southern In 1976 Jackson began an Christian Leadership offshoot program called PUSH Conference. for Excellence, an In 1966, Jackson left the organization to help black seminary to head the Chicago students get a better branch of Operation education. Breadbasket, an organization Jackson was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988. Jackson focused both his campaigns on the problems of blacks and other minority groups. He also focused on getting more minorities to vote. Jackson has also made several trips abroad that resulted in the freeing of hostages or poht1cal prisoners In 1984, he gained the release of a United States airman whose plane was shot down by Syrian forces in Lebanon. Jackson also gamed the release of 22 Americans and 26 Cubans who were being held in Cuban prisons, also in 1984. In 1986 Jackson founded the National Rainbow Coalition He remains as president today Jackson has received more than 40 honorary degrees In 1989 he was awarded the Spring Arm Medal for his c1v1I nghts and political achievements In 1990 he was elected as a nonvoting member of the United States Senate from the Oistnct of Columbia, where his main responsibility is to lobby for the statehood of the District of Columbia Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. helped in the fight against segregation segregated seating and King gained national attention. King believed the way to obtain civil rights reforms was not through violence. While at Some people come into this world and make seminary, King become aware of Gandhi's differences that change it forever philosophy of nonviolent social protest Martin Luther King Jr. was a minister, a civil On a tnp to India in 1959, King met with rights leader, an author, the winner of the 1964 followers of Gandhi. During these discussions he Nobel Peace Prize, a father, and a leader. became more convinced that nonviolent "Black Americans needed Martin Luther King, resistance was the most potent weapon but above all, Americans needed him. The significant qualities of this special man cannot be available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom. as was said in an underestimated or taken for -,-----, article written by Robin Chew, granted," Professor Melvin January 1996 Sylveser of Long Island University On August 28, 1963; 250,000 said. civil rights supporters attended the Jan. 15, 1929 in Atlanta, March on Washington King Georgia, Michael Luther King Jr., delivered his famous speech, I later renamed Martin, was born to Have A Dream, at the Lincoln Martin Luther King Sr., and Alberta Memorial. Williams King. Or Martin Luther King Jr., A A Testament of Hope The Biographical Sketch, prepared by essential Wnting of Martin Luther the National library Involvement King Jr. , edited by James Melvin Committee, Martin Luther King Jr. Washington, said King was an Federal Holiday Commission said, advanced student and entered King was a vital personality of the college early modem era. He obtained his bachelor's His lectures and remarks stirred degree in sociology from the concern and sparked the Morehouse College in Atlanta Ga, conscience of a generation; the in June of 1948. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. movements and marches he led In 1951 he received a sits in Birmingham Jail in brought significant changes in the bachelor's degree in divinity from 1955. Here he wrote his fabric of American life. Crozer Theological Seminary in famous 'Letter from James Earl Ray was convicted Chester, Pa In June 1955, King Birmingham Jail'. of assassinating King on April 4, graduated with his doctorate in 1968 in Memphis, Tenn. systematic theology. During his 13 years of active involvement of June 6, 1953 King married Coretta Scott. They civil rights, King changed how people look at the had four children together. world. King led a bus boycott and was arrested. "In this brief span of time, the United States While in prison he wrote Letter from Birmingham experienced a moral, religious and political · Jail. This inspired the growing civil rights revolution whose tremors were felt around the movement. world ," Washington said . The bus company dropped its policy on BY KIMBERLY SWENSON JOURNAL "STAFF WRITER Shining a light on the world Frederick M.Jones invented the first automatic refrigeration system for long-haul trucks. ships and railway cars. • Jones patented the refrigeration system in Lewis Howard Latimer, Frederick Jones, and 1935, The refrigeration helped stop the spoilage Elijah' McCoy, are African-American inventors of food on long tnps, and changed the way who have helped shape society. American's eat. Black inventors such as these men . Jones also developed an air conditioning contributed to our technologically sound society, system for military field but they are seldom ~ .,,...-::;--;::::::=11~ !1!111!!!1!11!!!!!11!~-. hospitals to keep blood recognized , serum at exact They introduced us to temperatures. such luxunes as the Elijah McCoy was electric lamp, the awarded over 57 patents refrigerated truck and the but 1s recognized most for automatic lubncatlon his automatic lubrication machine device Lewis H Latimer Many of the inventions invented the carbon of the day had moving filament in the parts that required incandescent light bulb lubrication The problem that keeps the light was getting 011 to those burning tonger than moving parts without first Edison's bamboo filament. having to shut down the Latimer was born in machinery. 1848 in Chelsea, Mass. In 1873, McCoy VVhile serving in the developed a small , oil-filled Union Navy in 1863, African-American inventors are seldom container with an Latimer studied drafting. recognized for their contributions to adjustable stop clock. He served as an society. This enabled the engineer for the Edison machinery to stay in Company and helped motion during lubrication Edison in supervising the installation of the These men and many other black Americans electric light system in New York Philadelphia, often go unrecognized for their developments Montreal, Canada and London BY STACEE CHILDS FOCUS EDITOR |