Martin Luther King Jr. Special Edition
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In the su m m er o f 1936, Eslanda
G oode R obeson fulfilled a lifelong
dream to visit A frica - her “old coun­
try "as an African American. The grand­
daughter o f a pioneering educator o f
form er slaves, she had been "brought
up in a household w ide aw ake to every
p h a s e o f th e N e g ro p ro b le m in
A m erica." W ith a Colum bia Uni veristy
degree in chem istry, she w as richly
educated for h er breakthrough as a
black w om an in m edical research. But,
w hile visiting Europe w ith her hus­
band, Paul Robeson, she w as "startled”
to find how censored her view o f A f­
rica had been in A m erica. “In England,
on the oth er hand, there is new o f
A frica everyw here.” Living in Europe
w hile her husband w orked in film, she
earned a degree in A frican anthropol­
ogy from the London School o f Eco­
nom ics, took the trip o f a lifetim e -
three m onths touring South Africa,
Sw aziland, Basutoland, U ganda, and
the C ongo - and later published her
travel diary as a photoessay.
TO
A C T IO N ”
Individual Differences.
Common Goals.
A t U.S. B a n k , w e striv e to e n su re
th a t o u r w o rk fo rc e reflects th e
Personal Banker •
D e v e lo p a n d m a in ta in p ro fita b le retail
d iv ersity o f th e c o m m u n itie s w e
b a n k in g re la tio n s h ip s a n d sell a w id e
serve. W e v a lu e th e in d iv id u a l
ra n g e o f U .S. B ank p ro d u c ts a n d
d ifferen ces o u r p e o p le b rin g -
fin a n c ia l s o lu tio n s . R e q u ire s a t least
d ifferen ces w h ic h c o n tr ib u te to
3 y e a rs ’ e x p e rie n c e in d ire c t sales.
a g re a te r m u tu a l u n d e rs ta n d in g
a n d b e tte r re sp o n siv e n e ss to
Teller
c u s to m e rs . A s o u r success
P ro v id e p r o m p t, c o u rte o u s c u s to m e r
c o n tin u e s to g ro w , w e a re a lw a y s
service by c o n d u c tin g fin a n c ia l
seek in g p e o p le w h o lo o k fo r w ay s
tr a n s a c tio n s in c lu d in g d e p o s its ,
to d o th in g s b e tte r - le a d e rs w h o
w ith d r a w a ls , a d v a n c e s, a n d p a y m e n ts.
e m b ra c e c h a n g e a n d g et ex c ite d
a b o u t p o ssib ilitie s in th e ev o lv in g
w o rld o f fin a n c ia l services. If y o u
R e q u ire s s tro n g d e d ic a tio n to c u s to m e r
service a n d a m in im u m o f 1 y e a r ca sh
h a n d lin g e x p e rie n c e .
a re d e d ic a te d to p ro v id in g so lu tio n s
fo r c u s to m e rs a n d c a re a b o u t y o u r
c o m m u n ity , c o n s id e r th e fo llo w in g
o p p o rtu n itie s a t U.S. B ank:
If y o u s h a re o u r a p p re c ia tio n fo r
c o m m u n ity , o p p o r tu n ity a n d
in d iv id u a lity , w e ’d like to k n o w w h a t
else w e h av e in c o m m o n . U.S. B an k
o ffe rs a c o m p e titiv e sa la ry a n d b en efits
ro n a ia —
Branch Manager
p a c k a g e . F o r im m e d ia te c o n s id e ra tio n ,
M a n a g in g a h ig h -v o lu m e service
p lease sen d y o u r re su m e , in d ic a tin g
b ra n c h , y o u w ill b u ild c u s to m e r
J o b C o d e P O B /0 1 1 3 /J W o n all
re la tio n sh ip s th r o u g h effective
b u sin ess d e v e lo p m e n t stra te g ie s
On August 29, 1957. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of
1957. Despite some official efforts to limit Jim Crow, not
since 1875 and the end o f Reconstruction had the federal
government made a definitive antisegregation strike.
east A frica) to study in India. African
A m erica’s crusade had found inspira­
tion in a Hindu, a H ebrew, and a C hris­
tian disciple o f both.
The annual East- W est gam e brought
out families in droves forthehigh point
o f N egro Leagues baseball season -
often m ore than forty thousand fans in
all. These w ere the days when legends
like C ool Papa Bell, Josh G ibson, and
Satchel Paige had their turn at bat. For
sport, for fun, for box office, there was
nothing like it. A nd one o f the greatest
g am esev erp lay ed o n A u g u st2 7 ,1938.
T here w as nothing m inor about the
N egro Leagues, where, as it has been
said, “only the ball w as w hite.” “They
say that w e w ere not organized,” said
K ansas City M onarch veteran Sam m ic
Haynes. “W e w ere organized. W e had
The five thousand-year old civilization
retook its freedom from England on
August 15. 1947 The hero of India's
freedom fight was undeniably
Mohandas (or Mahatma) K. Gandhi,
born.to a.proniinent Ehndu family.-
in Sharpeville and Sow eto, as A m erica
w ould do in O rangeburg and at the
Pettus B ridge, B ritain did at Amritsar.
T he arm y gunned dow n tw enty thou­
sand Indian m en, w om en, and chi Idren
penned inside a w alled garden to which
they had co m e for a m eeting on the
suppression o f their rights o f speech
and assem bly. From that tragedy, the
Indian revolution - a nonviolent cru­
sade w ith G andhi as its moral and
strategic leader - w as bom . Even if
geographers had not yet found that the
w orld w as round and interconnected,
consider this. G an d h i’s activism be­
gan in A frica, w here he read Henry
David T horeau, the A m erican pacifist
and U nderg ro u n d R ailroad station
master; Rev Jam es Lawson helped
ground the “C ivil Rights w ars" in
G andhi’s theory. And it is said that
Jesus departed the M iddle East (north-
C A LL
January 19, 2000
AUGUST FREEDOM DAYS
MOMENTS IN CIVIL
RIGHTS HISTORY
Ironically, one o f the m ost critical
m om ents in the C ivil Rights m ove­
ment did not involve A frican A m eri­
cans. It took place in India on A ugust
15, 1947, as that five thousand-year-
old civilization retook its freedom
from England.
T he hero o f India’s freedom fight
w as undeniably M ohandas (or M a­
hatm a) K. G andhi, bom to a prom inent
H induu family. His grandfather and
father w ere prim e m inisters o f subju­
gated Indian states. G andhi had stud­
ied law in London, returned to India to
practice in 1891, em igrated to South
A frica tw o years later, and becom e a
successful law yer within that country’s
Indian com m unity - otherw ise referred
to as apartheid’s “colored class.” It
w as there that he honed his hum an
rights activism . But as an Indian, he
was, therefore, also British subject. Dur­
ing the B oer W ar (betw een the British
and D utch for control o fS o u th Africa),
hejoined the British am bulance corps.
H e returned to India in 1914, during
W orld W ar I, rem aining loyal to the
Crow n. B ut it w as the A m ritsar M assa­
cre o f A pril 13,1919, that changed his
life. A s South A frica’s w hites w ould do
"A
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tw o leagues. W e had a 140-
gam e schedule. W e played
an all-star gam e every year
in Chicago. W e had sell­
outs. W e had a W'orld Se­
ries at the end o f the season.
If th a t's not organized, I
d o n ’t know w hat is.” A nd it
w as R ube F o ster’s idea.
T his visionary team ow ner
invited other ow ners to join
him at the Colored Y M C A in
Kansas City, w here together
they founded the National
N egro League (N N L ) on
February 13, 1920. Thanks
to Foster, the N egro Leagues
were serious business - a
business w ith a full spec­
trum o f jo b s on the playing
field and off, in m anagement
and every otherrelated field;
a business that w as lost
w hen, as Foster alw ays pre­
dicted they would, the white
major leagues i ntegrated the
players, closing out black
businessm en and leaving
them behind.
O n A ugust 29, 1957, C ongress
passed the Civil Rights Act o f 1957.
DespitesomeofTicial efforts tolim it Jim
Crow , not since 1875 and the end o f
Reconstruction had the federal gov­
ernm ent m ade a definitive antisegrega­
tion strike. Y et the 1957 act w as a step
backw ard for the m ovem ent. In its lan­
guage, if not its intent, it underm ined
the federal governm ent’s pow er to in­
tercede in Civil Rights enforcem ent.
Title III actually repealed an 1866 stat­
ute giving the president pow er to raise
troops to enforce o r to prevent viola­
tion ofCivil Rights. W hilethe president
retained powers to the sam e end, the
m otive behind C ongress’s repeal o f
presidential pow ers at the sam e tim e
that it w as so reluctant to enforce
desegregation w as certainly suspect
For on this very day, a situation w as
bubbling over considered one o f the
S o u th ’s m ost progressive as one o f its
m ost racist. T hree years after the Su­
prem e Court rendered its school d e­
segregation order, a ju d g e granted an
injunction preventing the desegrega­
tion o f Little Rock schools on A ugust
29, 1957.
a n d m a in ta in p ro fit w h ile
successfully d eliv e rin g p ro d u c ts
c o rre s p o n d e n c e , to : U .S . B a n k ,
J o W estb u ry , P.O . B ox 8 8 3 7 T -3 ,
P o rtla n d , O R 9 7 2 0 8 . O r, fa x to :
(5 0 3 ) 2 7 5 -4 8 3 8 . B a c k g ro u n d sc reen in g
a n d d ru g te s tin g re q u ire d . W e a re
a n d services. P refer a fo u r-y e a r
a n e q u a l o p p o r tu n ity e m p lo y e r a n d
deg ree in a b u sin e ss re la te d field,
d ru g -fre e w o rk p la c e . F o r in fo rm a tio n
a t least 2 y e a rs ’ b ra n c h b a n k in g
o n o th e r U .S. B an k o p e n in g s , call o u r
e x p e rie n c e a n d ex cellen t su p e rv iso ry
J o b L ine a t (8 8 8 ) 4 5 6 -7 7 7 6 .
a n d c o m m u n ic a tio n skills.
w w w .u s b a n k .c o m
[T£3bank
O n A ugust 31, 1955, the body o f
fourteen-year-old Em m ett Till w as
found in the Tallahatchie River. Just
ten days earlier, he had com e to M is­
sissippi for a visit with relatives. On
his first day there, in the tow n o f
Money, an incident took place that
ended in his lynching - an event o f
international notoriety.
Having fun w ith som e local boys,
he show ed them pictures o f his inter­
racial school friends in C hicago and
identified one as his girlfriend. K id­
ding around, one o f the local boys
dared him to speak to a w hite w om an
in a nearby store. Em m ett did ju st that.
With this, the boys told him h e'd bet­
ter get away. U naw are o f the rules o f
the South, Em m ett d id n ’t know to take
their w ords seriously. N ordid he know
to tell the relatives with whom he was
staying what had happened. They would
have know n to get him out o f town.
The follow ing Sunday m orning at
around 4 a m., they w ere aw akened by
intruders w ho struck Em m ett’s grand­
aunt in the head with a shotgun and
dem anded that his granduncle, Mose
“ Preacher” W right, give them the boy
‘w ho did the talking.” K idnapping
Emmett, they vow ed to k i 11 everyone i n
the house if W right called the sheriff.
W hen Em m ett did n ’t return later that
m orning, his cousin called the sheriff,
and his and E m m ett’s mothers in C hi­
cago. Emmett was founddum pedinthe
river that W ednesday; one eye had
been gouged out, his forehead had
been crushed, h e’d been shot, and his
badly mutilated body was swollen be­
yond recognition. W ithout perm ission
from the fami ly, the sheri ffordered ire­
mediate burial. Emmett's mother, Mamie
Till Bradley, called everyone up to the
governor to stop the burial. G iving in,
the sheriff shipped the body to C hi­
cago with orders not to open the cas­
ket. M am ie Bradley did. And w hat she
saw so sickened her that she wanted
the w orld to see it too. Jet m agazine
published the brutal photo, thousands
filed past the open casket, m ore gath­
ered for the funeral. The burial was
delayed four days to allow still m ore
to see that a lynching w as not a victim ­
less, nam eless act. It bore the face o f
a child.
The Oregon State Government is at work to create opportunities for ail. Join the
dream as it unfolds. Help us achieve our goal.
“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which
we arrive at that goal.”
■ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
We wish to give tribute to the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Here are just a few of the agencies that represent the State Government’s
commitment to diversity:
Office of Governor John Kitzhaber
Department of Administrative Services
Department of Consumer and Business Services
Oregon Department of Transportation
Oregon Housing and Community Services
Department of Revenue
Division of State Lands
The Oregon Lottery
Oregon Health Division
Department of Human Services
Oregon Economic and Community Development Department
Oregon Employment Department
Oregon Youth Authority
For more information on opportunities with the State of Oregon (employment, business
development, and services), please visit our web site at http://www.state.or.us.