Environment influences leadership
Follow his lead
by Dr. William Lillie,
Head. Department o f Black Studies
Portland State University
is injustice you confront injustice.
by Lamia Duke
He spoke out against poor housing,
poor police protection and the un
W ith in the leadership o f A fro -
equal distribution of wealth in this
Americans in P ortlan d , no other
country. I do not sec any of the peo
comes closer to Dr. M artin Luther
ple with King’s picture in their home
King than Ronnie H erndon, co-
doing what King believed in doing.
chair o f the Black U nited Front.
What set King apart is that here
Herndon says he does not deserve
was a man who could have been
that honor. “ T h a t is the kind of
quite com fortable in fit in to the
compliment I could never accept.
‘ black Bourgeoisie.' He had the
The best that any of us can do is try
education and the background and
in our own way to advance the cause
he would be alive today if he had
of liberation for black people.”
not taken on unpopular causes. I
History tells of a conflict between
would like to ask the black middle
Dr. King and another great leader.
class of Portland when were they in
Malcolm X . But was there really a
volved in helping their fellow
conflict or was one man ahead of
blacks.
the other? “ There were conflicts
" I think that many of us are quite
and at certain times each man was
hypocritical o f King. When they
critical of the other. But if you look
want to impress their white friends,
at what happened when Malcolm X
they talk about King. It is easy to
began to change his philosophy and
talk. I just wish some of us would
when King began to change his, they
back up our talke with actions and
were saying the same things. Both
conviction. If you do not try to help
men spoke out against the Vietnam
black people out now, when will you
war. H istory w ill show that M a l ever do it. And if you don’t, try not
colm X was critical of the War first; to fake people out by telling them
King followed at least six to seven that you love King. You might love
years behind. Both men said clearly your job or that little title you have,
that black people should organize but if you really love King you
themselves to gain justice, freedom would do some of the things he did
and equality. The most important for black people.”
item is that that both gave their lives
The elements about Dr. M artin
for black people in this country. If Luther King (hat Ronnie Herndon
Malcolm had lived, then King would respects (he most were his courage,
have agreed with many of the posi conviction and intellectual honesty.
tions that Malcolm took."
“ You could see King develop in just
How does Herndon feel about a few short year. To go from the bus
Dr. King? “ He was one of the most boycott to speaking out against the
important leaders to come out of the W ar in Vietnam is an example o f
20th century. What he has done for this man's evolutin. He stood alone
black people across the country is in many o f his battles. When he
immeasurable. He was able to get came out against the war many of
the black church out there on the the other so-called civil rights lead
picket lines. Many people today say ers criticized King. This was hard
they really dig M artin Luther King being criticized by your peers but
but (hey do not live the philosophy King stood fast with what he
that King taught. King said is there believed in and it cost him his life.”
Most scholarly analyses of Martin
Luther King, Jr., and the Civil
Rights Movement either focused on
leadership or community organiza
tion. These analyses exclude any dis
cussion of the political and socio
economic factors of the environ
ment. I have argued that leadership
of black organizations has histori
cally been influenced by three pri
mary factors. These are I ) the envi
ronment factor; 2) historical devel
opment of the area; and J) the or
ganization proneness of the local
community.
The environmental factors refer
to those political, social and eco
nomic conditions which influence
the development of community or
ganization and leadership. This is il
lustrated by the creation of the
Women s Political Council in Mont
gomery in 1951, by Mrs. Robinson
of Black Alabama State College
The Women's Political Council
provided the initial impetus for or
ganizing the boycott. Mrs. Robin
son mobilized the members of her
council to appeal directly to the
black masses of the city. Mrs. Rob
inson adopted a political maneuver
which took cognizance o f the exist
ence of black leaders whom she
placed in a position from which re
treat would be both difficult and
embarrassing. The historical de
velopment of the area is also very
significant. It determines the role
and organization relationship lead
ers utilize in relating and interacting
with the power structure of the local
community. The traditions of a re
gion determine the relationship
which exist betweeen white and
other minority groups.
The development of a new politi
cal culture by blacks during World
War II was the result of the follow
ing. I) the A. Philip Randolph’s
threat to lead a march on Washing
ton D.C. to protest job discrimina
tion in Federal Employment and; 2)
the migration of large numbers of
blacks from the South to the North
provided opportunities for the de
velopment of a national economic,
political, and legal support.
The major contributions made by
Martin Luther King, Jr., in the
Montgomery boycott, according to
Lewis Killian was possible because
of his extraordinary skill as an ora
tor and a philosopher These skills
allowed for his ascendancy to a
position of a national black political
leader in (hat King had both the
white and black community
support. His legitimacy in the black
community stemmed from his
scholarly achievements and his
extraordinary skills as an orator.
His appeal within the white
community was also possible
because of his philosophy,
principles and theology. According
to Killian, King reduced the
complex problem of the
segregation and unequal social
structure to a simple spiritual
equation: segregation is evil,
integration is good. At the same
time, he showed his followers
concrete ways to attack the visible,
accessible symbols of evil.
Afterthe movement led by King
RiRie-WDDNJRy
DANCE
ŒWANY
Constitution applies to all. . .
by l-anita Duke
Grassroot News, N. IF .— Judge
Mercedes F . Deiz was recently
named by Ebony Magazine as an
outstanding female judge. Judge
Deiz has served Multnomah County
with the same backbone and stride
as D r. M a rtin Luther King. A l
though D r. King was arrested at
least 30 limes in his career. Judge
Deiz believes that he d id n ’ t break
any laws. "T h ere is a constitution
which applies to every inan, woman
and child. So in terms o f federal
laws King and the movement didn't
violate any But the sit-ins, marches
and the quiet type of protests broke
state laws. These state laws were un
constitutional and should not have
been on the books in the first
place.”
Judge Deiz doesn't like to specu
late on what might have happened if
there had been no M a rtin Luther
King. “ Dr. King was unique. Some
how he galvanized all black people
and many whites to see the truth of
working together. I'm disenchanted
in 1983 to see how we're falling
apart. Racism is in no ways eradi
cated in the United States, it is not a
overt as it was during the 1960s. To
day, it's not a question of being la
tent. It's just there.”
How does Judge Deiz feel about
the movement that D r. King in
spired? "Whenever people inquire
and the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference had
completed its first task a group of
students initiated another phase of
the Civil Rights Movement, utilizing
a different version o f nonviolent
protest which occurred at
Greensboro, North Carolina in
I960. This event expanded the Civil
Rights Movement to include two
additional groups; I) Student
Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee, which was created after
Greensboro to control sit-in strikes
and; 2) the Congress of Racial
Equality. CORE, as the latter was
called, was considerably older than
SNCC and was a pioneer in
this technique of nonviolent action.
The third development culminated
in the Urban Revolt of 1965 which
signified the new demand by the ur
ban blacks for redress o f their griev-
anmees. The revolt made a very
great impact and reformed the po
litical and social institutions in A m
erican society. This urban revolt
movement was a national call for
black identity, heritage and develop
ment.
The leaders of this movement in
cluded Malcolm X, Stokely Car
michael. Rap H . Brown and count
less others. In the fall of I968-69
black students in predominantly
white universities began a campaign
of campus take-over and black po
litical awareness on university cam
puses throughout the nation.
The political, social and economic-
environment of the black com
munity has influenced the
development of black leaders in the
United States.
as to who my heroes are Dr. King is
on that list. I remember when he
came to Portland to speak at an U r
ban League meeting. There was an
aura about that man that was spe
cial. I ’ve never been around anyone
since who would let you know that
you were around a man who cared
about every living person. He said
what needed to be said; there was no
falsehood involved. H e’s just about
the greatest man to come out of this
century."
Does Judge Deiz feel there are
still laws on the books that need
challenging? “ There continue to be
minor kinds o f laws that are only
important to one group that need to
be changed. It's taken a long time as
women to eradicate the inequality in
working conditions and salary. In
terms of discriminatory laws I don't
think there are any more on the
books. A lthough I might be
wrong.”
The justice system through the
A ttorney General and the F B I.
wiretapped, sent phony mail and
tried to disrupt the movement and
personal life o f D r. King. Judge
Deiz found this "disgusting.” “ I'm
dismayed that any group can take
the law into their own hands and use
it to suit their own purposes. I ’ m
shocked and dismayed that there
ever were and continue to be
agencies that will violate (he law in
order to justify the end results.”
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M L
M i t c h e l l . 221 3 0 2 6
THE BEI PER PEOPLE
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C all 2 2 4 -B E E P fo r a free dem on stration.
Page 12 Section III Portland Observer, January 26, 1963