Pfu fi ment.'' He said that an impo
element in Black Power skeaee be sien ts sai
sit feces ein os cree Se, ag, aa ea etc OES a Fal NI ce
ee
___ Albany, New York Vol. |
No. 8
Organizer Of Newark
Black Power Confab
Heard In Albany Area |
The Rev. Nathan Wright Jr., organ-
izer of the Newark Black Power Con-
ference, spoke toa predominantly white
and predominantly friendly audience in
Rensselaerville onMonday. Dr. Wright
who is also the executive director of the
Department of Urban Affairs of the Epi-
scopal Diocese of Newark, told his
audience that Black Poweris not an anti-
white concept and that ''America des-
perately needs Black Power because the
whole pathology of America stems
largely from the failure of Black Ameri-
cans to seek what they are now begin-
ning to seek under the aegis of Black
Power."
He called Black Power a "'creative
social concept'' because it represents
the ''empowerment of people for human
cial pride because ''Black people have
a self-destructive self-image based on
the racist implication ofthe work Black.
-Wemust invest what has made us seem
worthless with positive implications.
We must realize that no one respects
anyone who doesn't respect himself.'"'
Referring to riots as a manifesta-
tions of Black self-hatred, Dr.
claimed that they are a ''form of social
psychosis''in which young Black people
have "literally been driven out of their
minds'' by White America. ''Riots are
not justifiable,'' he said, ''they are a-
moral. Rioters are temporarily insane
and as such they are not guilty."
While obviously regretting the oc-
Dr. Wright took an
even dimmer view of the way police de-
partments respond tothem. ''Black peo-
ple don't destroy life in riots, '' he ex-
plained, ''they destroy property. When
White people see Black people driven to
destruction they take their guns and go
in to kill, thus equating looting with
murder and property values with hu-
curence of riots,
man values."
He feels that racial violence will end
only when an "'equitable balance of power
relationships which include Black pow-
er'' enables our society to achieve
"sanity, security, peace and fulfill-
ment, ''
The Rensselaerville audience, which
had cometohear four speakers discuss
representative democracy as part ofa
programsponsored by the Renssalaer-
(to page _
Wright
August 4-10
ARRESTS PROTESTED . -- sperabe x a
friends
Cree this! ali
“Beth © were 'beleased On bail Thursday
“McDowell, Pry ryor Free On Bail
of te Brothers
Five Indicted ‘By Grand Jury
Sam McDowell and James Pryor,
both members of the Brothers, were
free Thursday evening on $1,500 bail
each, after almosta week long struggle
to have a reasonable bail posted.
Pryor was arrested Thursday night
during a sixhour rebellion by some 200
black youths in the downtown area of the
city. McDowell turned himself in Fri-
day after hearing that a warrant had
been issued for his arrest.
Of the 41 persons arrested during
the disturbance, only five--the two
Brothers andthree burglary and larceny
suspects--were indicted by the grand
jury. The jury intends to callall 41 per-
sons during its investigation.
After the arrest ofthe two Brothers,
the restof the organization organized a
picket demanding that they be set free
on bail. The picket, which began on
Saturday, July29, had as many as 50
persons on some days, including many
students and friends from the SUNYA
community.
The initial bail set for McDowell and
Pryor was $15,000, a figure thatwas
attacked by the Brothers' lawyers as
being "'exhorbitant'' and a violation of
their constitutional rights.
Bail for the other persons ieniuked
ranged from $5, 00 to $1, 500.
Many observers felt that setting bai
for Pryor and McDowell fifteen times
higher than for the other suspects was
a political attack on the Brothers. —
This feeling was shared by Mr. Wil-
liam Dobbs of North Swan Street, who
was among the 41 persons arrested, but
who claims he did not participate in the
violence.
Dobbs reported that he was walking
home with his wife when he was picked
up unexpectedly by the Albany Police.
"They must have thought I was my
brother, Robert Gene,'' he told the
Liberator, ''because whenI got down to
the station, they kept calling me Robert
and they had papers ready with Robert
Gene's name on them. :
Willie's brother, Robert Gene is a
prominentmember ofthe Brothers, and
was the running mate of Sam McDowell
in this spring's Democratic Primary.
The Brothers' response, in addition
to the picketing, has been to announce
the candidacy of Sam McDowell for
County Legislature in November. The
Brothers will try to place McDowell on
the ballot as an independent. Mc-
Dowell's campaign will use the Black
Panther symbol made famous by the
Lowndes County Freedom Party in Al-
abama. :
ee si
eis i i ca ‘
: y" Pies tb
sbi iS SR oe A i ei eR Ne ee PERL Se 8
eGo, Cesta: esate me gD acai Ye at let Cre iia tage abt a smal ak
hill Ribas Siteaas | di ide iis ane OL aT eee ees
ROSEN
gp ab ee "
Pe
ee Ore eee
Poem ee
Across the country the hand wring-
ing goes on about the disturbances which
- have flaredup in many American cities
this summer. While the moaning con-
tinues, the white community and a por-
tion of the black community appear to
have missed one important message of
the summer of 1967.
This message is that black people
have some power and perhaps more
power than they ever dreamed ofhaving.
The power may only be the power to
- throw a brick or a fire bomb through a
window, but it was enough to send shud-
ders of chilling fear up and down the
spine of comfortable White America.
Cancels Barbeques
Black America had enough power to
force. White America to take time out
from golf games and backyard barbe-
ques and acknowledge the existence of
the Negro.
Black America told White America
that it would no longer come Uncle
Toming, hat in hand, feet shuffling,
head bowed, ''yes siring,'' begging for
an opportunity to earn for himself a tiny
sliver of the American dream.
The power Black America has is the
migrants to i at nated is power in
the Molly Magoire re volts of the 1870's
The Midwest farmersused it during ae
1930's to save their farms.
While this power is not always suc-
cessful, it is always expensive to en-
counter. It failed the American Indian,
but the Indians kept the United States
Army busy until 1901. It failed the Jews:
in the Warsaw ghetto uprising of 1943,
but the Jews forced Hitler to divert an
Army division from his hard pressed.
- Eastern t Front.
Last Resort
People throughout history have been
forced to use this type of power when-
ever they have lacked more sophisti-
cated forms of power. It is the last re-
sort. Camus, the French philosopher,
writes that a slave can become a man
only after he has said ''no'' to his mas-
ter for the first time: ©.
- The White American has denied the
Black American his manhood and self-
respect and then cursed him when he
nas been forced to ask for help. The
White Americanhas tried to buy cff
the Black American with cheap welfare
programs when what he wanted ws an
opportunity to earn his daily bread like
any other man.
Asaresult, much of Black America
has beencrippled with alcoholism, lack
of job skills, and even lack of desire for
selfimprovementor else has been cas-
trated and turned into kowtowing Uncle
Toms.
But it wasn'tthe beaten down men or
the Uncle Toms who demonstrated their
ower that. the American ce vol. ;
Editorial
Message of 1967 - The Power of The Brick
-
power this summer. It was the young
men and teenage boys who still have
hope. In a loud and clear voice they
shouted to all America, ''No! No! No!.
No! We will not accept the fate of our
fathers. "'
Men Not Toms
They proved they are men. Federal:
troops weren't sent into Detroit and riot
police armed with shotguns weren't
rushed to downtown Albany to deal with
beaten men and Uncle Toms. Beaten-
down men are pacified with $5 for a bot-
tle of booze at election time. Uncle
Toms arekeptintheir place with flunkie
jobs and a chance to have their picture
taken with the mayor once a year.
The price Black America paid to
demonstrate its power this summer was
high. Over 95 percent of the scores of
dead were blackmen. But at least these
deaths did not go unnoticed by White
America like the deaths of hundreds of
black babies who die each year from rat
-bites.
But White America will also pay a
price. Millions will be spent to train
National Guard troops in riot control.
Fire insurance will cost more. The po-
Lice pace SS, ot a0 at U. S. cities will be
oa or enare hired
“America, thathas the power to enforce
- this power.
inhabitants ofthe rat infested ghettoes,.
It is White America, not Black
America, that has the power to allow a
Negro to move into suburbia ifthe Negro
has the means to buy a house in subur-
aN Eee tee a ees a dit
bia.
It is White America, not Black
America, thathas the power to provide
adequate schools in the ghettoes and to
open labor unions to all individuals who
are willing to work.
It is White America,
Rete ee ewe me TY
Mee ne ge on
not Black —
building codes, so loose bricks aren't
lying around; to getthe bottles and trash
off the streets; and to provide job op- —
portunities for the young men and teen- _
age boys who stand around on street
corners. pe.
The only real power Black America 2
hasisto sendaloosebrick or fire bomb =
through a store window. White Ameri- oe
ca, however, should not underestimate —
MAlNGAs ‘of ‘White / maser reais will semen
less frequently in downtown sections of
cities because of the summer of 1967.
Benefits Of Summer
The summer of 1967 has also wrung
a few benefits for Black America. Re-
creation programs in just about every
ghetto have been beefed up across the
country. New York State has announced
a program to fight rats and Albany's
city administration intends to partici-
pate in the program.
Of course, these aren't programs to
correctthe major ills of American so-
ciety, only bandaids being applied to a
festering sore that broke open.
Perhaps Black America doesn't have
the power toimprove ghetto schools, to
improve housing conditions, to getmore
jobs, orto gettrash removal. However,
it is not completely powerless.
In every slum section of every city
there is always an abundant supply of
loosebricks falling out of ramshackled
houses because cities refuse to enforce
their own building codes. There are al-
ways large numbers of bottles in the
streets of every ghetto because cities
refuse to provide trash removal. In
‘every black section of every city there
are always largenumbers of young men
and teenage boys standing on street cor-
ners because there aren't decent jobs
for them.
White America’s Decision
Whether Black America uses this
power or not is more of a decision for
White America tomake then it is for the
that ties SBE eps issih NRE EEE a, =o
People are hungry. Theses arenojob
for black high school dropouts. Th
summer suddenly got hot two weeks ago
So the mayor said ''dance."'
Programs to keep ''the youngsters
busy!' are being scheduled for Arbo
Hill, including record dances chree
nights a week and a live band on Satur-
day night. =
We are wondering what the mayor ~
expects to happen after these dances
each night? Willthe young men go home
quietly--happy that they have been gives
a place to go at night?
We wonder when the city will start
taking the ghetto seriously and stop of “
fering dances when we want justice.
2
Z
The Albany Liberator is
published weekly by the
Brothers! Coordinating
Committee, at 261 Clinton
Ave., Albany, New York] —
12210. [465-0719] Sub- | —
scriptions for residents of
Arbor Hill or the South End
or students, $5.00 a year.
Supporting Subscription | ©
$15.00 and Sustaining Sub- | —
scription $25. 00.
Editor - Peter G. Pollak
Managing Editor - Earl Thorpe
Advertising Manager - Peter Jones
Circulation Manager - Robert Dobbs
ene Ngan SAAR Bit APOE
Malcolm X
The Man and His Mission
Every major eventin Malcolm's
‘life brought him into conflict with
the society that still thrives on the
oppression of his people.
His mother was born as a result
of her mother being raped bya
white man in the West Indies. When
he was four, thehouse wherehe and
his family lived was burned down by
members of the Klu Klux Klan.
When he was six his father met a
violent death thathis family always
believed was a lynching.
After the death ofhis father, who
was a follower of the black nation-
alist, Marcus Garvey, his family
was broken up and for a number of
years he lived in state institutions
and boarding homes. When he fi-
nally went to school he made good.
marks, but lost interest and was a
dropout at the age of fifteen.
He wentto live withhis sister in
‘Boston, and went to work at the
kinds of jobs available to Negro
youth--mainly the jobs not wanted
by white people, like: shoe-shine
boy, soda jerk, hotel busboy,
member of a dining-car crew on
trains traveling to New York, and
a waiter in a Harlem night club.
From these jobs he found his way
_into the underworld and thought, at
.the time, that his position in life
‘drugs,
second of a 4 part series
by John Henrik Clarke
was advancing.
Inthe jungle of the underworld,
where the fiercest survive by fleec-
ing the weak and the defenceless,
he became a master manipulator,
skilled in gambling, the selling of
burglary and hustling. A.
friend who has helped him get his
firstjob gave him the rationale for
his actions. ''That main thing you
have to remember,'"' he was told.
"is that everything in the world is
a hustle."
Malcolm returned to Boston,
where he was later arrested for
burglary and sentenced toten years
in prison. The year was 1946 and
he was not quite 21 years old.
Prison was another school for
Malcolm. He now had time to think
and plan. Out of this thinking he
underwent a conversion that liter-
ally transformedhis wholelife. By
letters and visits from his family
he was introduced to the Black
Muslim Movement (which calls it-
selfofficially The Lost-Found Na-
tion of Islam. )
He tested himself in the disci-
pline of his newly chosen religion
by refusing to eat pork. The event
startled his fellow inmates, who
had nicknamed him Satan. He des-
Se qn eae abi peonctatie es eng eee
U.T. ‘Hippie
Trash - Square Idea For A Rally
I read last week where them
Brothers are still all hung up be--
hind the trash thing, man. They
even plannin' a rally 'bout it now!
Boy, you know they got to be real
tight forissues; else why don't they
come out that bag? I'd a thought for
sure they'dbe onto something more
important by now. I mean, how
much satisfaction are they after,
Jim? Leastways they got the City
‘doin' ''trial removal,'' and that's a
lot more than I ever expected!
Iknewitwasplaincrazy, aimin'
for anything better; and I figured I
was hipping you all last time I cov-
eredthistrash scene. Like, I said
just piling trash out in front your
house weren't about tomake nobody
collect it, but don't nobody never
pay me no mind...
Take for example the chick next
door - she'sa fox but she ain't got
no sense. She just kept talkin' her
talk about the Brothers and carryin'
out her trash...then come to find
out the City ain't gettin' to our
street 'till three weeks from this
Saturday!...Watchin' her drag it
all back sure made me glad I did
not bother over mine, and you know
that woman had the nerve to cuss
me out when I told her that!
- But returnin' to my story--
those cats just ain't hip enough to
quit when they're ahead! No, they
gotto goandhold a rally - tryin' to
get the grass roots folk together
with the hunkies in some kinda city-
wide campaign for trash pick-up...
Dream on, brother!
Whitey's livin' good up in Pine |
Hills. It don't matter much to him
whether trash collection is free or
not - Imean, like he's not on wel-
fare! He's not getting too shook up
at thenewsthatus black people be-
ing chargedhigher prices for trash:
-removal,
cheaper if youlivin' up there in the -
neither. Course itis
19th Ward! LikeItold you before--
that's just the way things are and
you only wasting your time trying
tobeat the Man's system. Myself,
I got better things to do.
...Bésides,
idea forarally. I mean, trash just
ain't no big thing anyway! A rally
oughttobe round something swing-
ing, the wayI seeit...so's the cats
can groove with the action. ..I ain't
never heard tell of Stokley talkin'
-'bout no trash, Jim!
Butif they definitely gotto do the
thing - thenwhy not on a weekday,
man? Like, a person could be real
interested and all, only ain't no-
(to page 8)
found symptoms of malnutrition,
BARE ten 8 eee ee ee
. \ ;
it's such a square
Liberator :
News Notes
Mississippi Poverty
Rs
Government officials have gathered startling
information on conditions of hunger and unem-
ployment among the black farm laborers in the
Delta region of Mississippi.
~—-
hecovhion to statistics, 55,000 people are
living on farms this year that, dueto the increas-
ed mechanization in the cotton industry, can of-
fer themnoemploymentatall. 69% of these poor
families in this region eat less than two-thirds
of a recommended "minimum" diet. A team of
physicians observing over 600 Negro children
even starva-
tion, in their small patients.
Atthe presenttime, 8% of Mississippi's bud-
get is spent on welfare programs; the welfare
administration has been accused of arbitrary
handling of its clients and with racial discrim-
ination.
Reliable sources have indicated that the state
of Mississippi, by raising matching state funds
and by fulfilling other requirements, could ob-
tain a minimum of $75-million
Federal welfare aid.
Man For The Job —
in additional
“ecutive director of the President's Advisory 5
Commission on Civil Disorders and will carry
the burden of the investigations into the causes ae
of riotsjin American cities.
Mr. -Ginsburg, a wealthy lawyer,
described as ''the very model of a civilized man
living the good life.'' He and his wife have a
luxurious home in Georgetown, complete with
swimming pool. Mr. and Mrs. Ginsburg vaca-
tion at ski resorts in this country and frequently
in France.
Mr. Ginsburg feels qualified to head the in-
vestigation into the causes of revolt and vio-
lence in the ghettoes; although he admits that —
his investigation will take him into a ''sub-world
ofalienated Americans with whom he nor anyone |
like him has had the remotest contact."'
Day For Prayer
In response to President Johnson's plea that
Sunday be set aside as a day for prayer for the
endto racial strife, the Rev. Hilaire Valiquette
gave a sermon »on civil rights to his white pa-
rishioners last Sunday at St. Martin's Catholic
Church in the suburb of Cheviot, Ohio.
When five persons in the congregation stood
up and protested violently to the sermon, Rev.
Valiquette responded that ''if the church does
not speak out now, Wwe may as well fold up.'"!
At this point, the church seemed to do just that,
whento Rev. Valiquette's amazement, twenty
people walked out.
Albany Liberator: August 4-10 3
¢. ny
bad ee ee hs i a ae
Senthnarpatheseunt! s-aeatfireaattioenanat ca Meerentemecios
Seen alii aida tegton ny et ey gee
has been
<r" gt
PN OE Te EN NO Pe
Coes APOC: a OD Le A, i MT i Vets ln Cen eee ie, oe, ee Oe
fee ron rear gtat aes A Pangr is niy eer TIS Ppl ae
= a te
ee
BENJAMIN BOLDEN, 4 Sec-
would pull
WILLIE McNEIL, 182 Colonie
St., with Albert Leigh: ''Yes, Street:
they just keep on making pro- not.
mises and don't do anything a-
bout them."
ond Street: "I believe it will bia Street:
‘happen again. Nothing has
changed. If the Negro poor all I know how."
together things
‘could get better, they could get
better housing and better jobs.
-Butuntil they do what happen-
ed last bea will continue to
Pe Ea ClO Se ret etn eet En a et tt et io scp aetna tiie Finer eatiaeetnE ae ES
ae KITTLE, 48 N. Sede
ie § hope not. But it did
I think it can happen again if one and can again but I hope
HARRY SHARPE,
but I hope for the best. That's: so.
5 i
Se gaan he < Brey 4 pan + - yee x
and Julv 27?
Brock Street:
"It's hard to say, Wilson Street:
ing the rioting."'
wah ene eee ghee. et SE OTT A ae ene
Question of the Week:
In your opinion is there a chance that Albany
will have any more disturbances :
ones which shook the downtown sections July 26
BILLY PENNICK,
"It's possible,
very much so. Kids are rest- mer and the summer's not over
less and they got nothing to do.
71 Colum- PERCELL McDOWELL, 21.
.e6.
People are mad about the
way the cops are acting and
over the arrests of the two
Brothers after they were stop-
such as the
28 Ten HOWARD CHAPMAN, 89 First
Street: "It's been a long sum-
yet. The same things happen-
‘ing that peered before the
riot started.
MICHAEL DUNN, 107 Phillip
Street: ''Certainly it can hap-
‘pen again because it's neces-—
sary if there is going to be
any changes made. "!
I think
S.
To The Editor:
Judging from the comments I have
heard from the average man, I do be-
lieve that if President Johnson asked
"white America'' today to support a kind
of pruning policy of the Negro race, it
might justdoit, inone form or another.
Wherever you go, the good people
arenotat alladverseto the quick,
solution of meeting violence head on
with more violence--get'em, club 'em;
shoot 'em dead, if necessary.
Perhaps later, when they are given
moretime, they may think about trying
to prevent the disease rather than
a treating the symptom. But, now there
isnosuch sentiment. I've heard men--
-< Albany Liberator August 4-10
easy
men who think of themselves as gocd
fathers
blinking, ''There's only one thing to do
when a riot starts: blast anyone who
sticks his head out of a window or over
a rooftop."
Another man ‘said,
istake 1, 000 of the top trouble-makers
across the country and execute them
publicly. That would “ee an end to the
rioting. '"'
A woman explained how a police of-
ficer told her that his orders were to
"shoot to kill'' in case of riot and she
believed the cop to be most righteous
and heroic. And, on and on it went...
good people unable to look beyond the
rule of force to solve the shame of our
cities, both north and south.
And, wasn't it only yesterday when
we wrung our hands and gasped and a
few fainted when the knowledge of Nazi
atrocities was revealed? How could the
German people have allowed it to happen
and husbands--state without,
''What I would do
we all wondered? How was it possible?
Perhaps now we understand a little
better how it might have started.
WORRIED CITIZEN
_ ? oe 4
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-HO5-0045 / HO5-0046
by Robert Analavage
We are soldiers
In the army
We have to fight Lord
Though we have to die.
We have to hold up
The blood-stained banner
We have to hold it up
Until we die.
-SNCC freedom song
JACKSON, Miss.--Ben Brown was
one of those restless black youths who
would not accept, in any way, the role
a racist society had assigned to him.
His mother, Mrs. Ollie Mae Brown,
said ''the children always knowed how
we was broughtupand Benjamin said he
was tired the way we old folks keep say-
'yassir'and 'yas, mam.' He wanted the
same rights as anyone else.
In 1963, at the age of 17, he began
attending civil-rights meetings. During
thattime, he helped organize a boycott
against downtown stores at Lanier High
School, where he was a student.
Soonhe acquired acquireda reputa-
tion with the police and during the next
four yearshewas arrested seven times
for movement activity. Police harass-
ment was constant.
Police Harassment
* His brother Amhurst, 25,
~ Benwere walking home one night: ''The
police stopped us and started bugging
Ben. Hehasa goateeand oneof the cops
told him to get ridofit. 'Héll, boy, ' they
said, 'youdon't get rid of that goatee we
going to burn it off.'
His mother feared for his life. On
one occasion, she went with her pastor
down to police headquarters to lodge a
complaint and ask them to stopharass-
ing her son. She even tried to get him
to live with an aunt in Chicago and flee
Mississippi. But he refused.
He was beaten once by a Negro po-
liceman, for it is no secret that such
police are used by whites to keep re-
calcitrant black people in line.
In 1965, more than 1,000 people
were arrested in Jackson for protest-
ing the all-white Mississippi legisla-
ture. Ben Brown was one of them. The
brutality at the Jackson Fairgrounds,
where the protesters were jailed, has
been well documented: people were
made to run agauntlet between rows of
club-wielding police with adhesive tape
covering their badge numbers;
pregnant girls lost babies; people were
forced to lie on concrete for seven
days, and were repeatedly sprayed |
with DDT, ostensibly to kill mosquitos.
Hands Burned
While at the Fairgrounds,
was passing through a food line, he
accidentally dropped his plate into a
tank of boiling water. The cops forced
-his hands into the water to retrieve it;
as Ben
told about _
- anincident which occurred when he and
two,
Jackson- Death of A Movement Soldier
‘he was badly burned.
He worked in various civil-rights:
groups that appeared in Mississippi --
SNCC, MFDP, COFO -- and was a field
secretary for Freedom Corps, a small
group of young black militants who
worked in the dangerous Delta, trying
to organize the poor on plantations.
It was here that he met Margaret, a
beautiful girl from Natchez, who work-
ed with him in Freedom Corps. She
later became his wife.
Soon Delta Ministry, which financed
the Freedom Corps, ran out of money.
Some people began to withhold financial
support from the movement as they
grew alarmed at the increasing mili-
tancy of the struggle. Freedom Corps
had to be abandoned for lack of funds.
Quit Movement
Ben Brown returned to Jackson and
gota job as a truck driver-warehouse-
man. He soon quit when the company re-
fused to payhim as much as they paid a
white worker. He got another job asa
truck driver. During this time, he had
dropped out of the movement.
His wife said, ''He was always talk-
ing about how the movement was dead
and how nothing was really changed."
Then the revolt broke out at Jackson
State College. News of it was in the
newspapers and on the radio.
That night Ben Brown went down te. or
a little restaurant “called the Kontiki, exes: |
which coincidentally was in the building
that servedas COFO headquarters dur-
ing the famous 64 summer project.
-Miss Tut Tate, a young black girl
who works foralawyers' group in Jack-
son, saw him here.
'He told me he had come to the res-
taurant to buy a sandwich for him and
his wife. Thenthe cops started advanc-
ing on the demonstrators and the stu-
.dents started running. Ben ran with
them. '"'
Gunned Down :
~The police, backed up by highway
patrolmen and an all-white National
Guard, fired indiscriminately into the
fleeing students. Four were wounded
‘and so was Ben Brown. He lay on the
ground motionless. A group of students
approached the body and the police or-
dered them away.
"But he needs help,'' they cried.
"He's gotall the help he's ever gon-
na git, ''a white policeman called back.
AGuardmedic climbed out of a tank
and examined the body. Forty-five min-
_uteslater, Brownwas taken to the hos-
pital. Withinhours, he was pronounced
dead of wounds in the back and the back
of the head. ;
When his brother heard about it, he
cried ''OLord, don't let my brother be
dead. What can a person do when his
brother is shot down like a dog?'":
"You know,'' said his mother, Ollie
Mae Brown,
killus. That's all itis.
''We paying those cops to
'' Then she said
' from The Southern Patriot,
‘white people keep saying they sorry
when something like this happens, but
I don't see them doing nothing to stop
| Bet
Paid Killers
Chacies Evers ofthe NAACP, whose
own brother Medger was alsokilled four
yearsago, saidatthe funeral services,
"they have taken the hoods and sheets
offthe murderers and issued them uni-
forms and badges."'
Lawrence Guyot of the MFDP (Miss-
issippi Freedom Democratic Party)
said, ''Wemustorganize Mississippi or
we will keep returning to this hall for
more funerals. We must organize a-
‘round one thing-- survival."
The funeral procession drive to tne
cemetery to bury him in a place called
Sweet Rest. For Ben Brown, the strug-
gle was over. |
(The above article was reprinted
3210 w.
Broadway, Louisville, Kentucky.
40211. Subscription is $3 a year.)
ac ie ea? ay
oe: eee =
at
; (from page 2)
cribes the occasionin this manner: _
"It was the funniest thing--the re-
action, and the way that it spread. In
prison, where so little breaks the mo-
notonous routine, the smallest thing
causesa commotion of talk. It was be-
ing mentioned all over the cell block by
night that Satan didn't eat pork.
"It made me very proud, in some odd
way. One of theuniversal images of the
Negro, in prison and out, was that he
couldn't do without pork. It made me
feel good to see that my not eating it had
especially startled the white convicts.
"Later I would learn, when I had
read and studied Islama good deal, that
unconsciously, my first pre-Islamic
submission had been manifested. I had
experienced, for the first time, the
Muslim teaching, "If you take one step
toward Allah--Allah will take two steps
toward you''...Mybrothers and sisters
in Detroit and Chicago had all become
converted to what they were being taught
was the 'natural religion for the black
mina. * ™
4 ee ‘alco
His description of his process of
self-education in prison is an indict-
ment of the American educational sys-
tem and a tribute to his own perser-
verance in obtaining an education after
being poorly prepared in the public
schools.
Albany Liberator August 4-10 5.
In the early evening of a hot summer
day, Albany's Lincoln Park high rise
apartments have the air of St. Peters-
burg, Florda's retirement city. El-
derly people can be found occupying the
park benches in front of the buildings.
Lincoln Park Homes, administered
as low income housing by the Albany
Housing Authority,
highest percentage of older people as
tenants of any project in the city.
' Older tenants in the four buildings
which were completed in the spring of
1966, say they like living in the build-
ings, althoughit means bearing some of
the noise of children. An older man
helping two women carry groceries into
the building said security guards warn-
ed parents of children playing in the
elevators and halls that eviction would
result if this continued.
Two Families Evicted
Two families, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph
Walsh with nine children and Mrs.
Collett Wolfe with seven, claimed this.
spring that they were being evicted be-
cause their ''children had been annoy-
ing residents. "'
Several children sitting on a bench
inthe playing area quickly told this re-
‘porter that living in the apartment
buildings meant ''ycu have to be quiet
and you can't have any wild parties, "!
a no
ed, two poo-
although one family "had
= dies and they had not béen evicted.
. The four buildings consist of two
with eight stories and 50 and 51 units
each on Warren Street and two with 12
stories and 87 units apiece on Morton
Street. There is only one community
room for the entire project.
Twenty-six youngsters meet Monday
nights inthe community room for 'Jun-
or Citizens" meetings. Although mem-
bership comes mainly from children at
63 Morton Street, Robert Bender, Al-
bany's Housing Authority director, re-
cently told the children they must open
it to anyone inthe housing development.
Park A Plus Factor
The big plus factor for the Lincoln
Park project is Lincoln Park--a wide
expanse of grass and trees, ball fields
and tennis courts, as well as a swim-
ming pool, within walking distance. The
buildings are near bus lines and within
distance of some stores.
Two drawbacks to the apartments
were cited by tenants. The large units
with five bedrooms donot supply enough
cupboard space for a week's groceries
for that size family, a mother of five
pointed out. Two washing machines are
supposed to serve an entire building. If
apersonhasher own washing machine,
it must be mobile and moved to and
from the sink for water.
Like the Thacher Homes on Green
Street, Albany's oldest high rise hous-
6 — Albany Liberator August 4-10
probably have the
~ Elderly Enjoy High Rise On Lincoln Park
ing project, these buildings are served
by two elevators, one stopping at even
numbered floors, the other at odd num-
bered ones. Even if children are kept
from playing in the elevators, people
seem to have complaints of long waits
or fear they cannot get out of the build-
ing quickly enough in case of emer-
gency. One tenant stated earlier this
spring that ''living in Lincoln Park is
like living in a jail."
Negro Percentage Small
The percentage of Negro families in
the building is lower than in the Green
Street apartments. Several apartment
. - Bsc shag eT
Acetate ante ae em tenant tm ce ert een eat ceaaeneaeenentneraantine atime eine recaatinemeacatilineemeamnmtanats EN ee ne ee eee Sie
; es a ee ae SPR aa : . peigeme ee :
dwellers remarked that Negro families
who were homeless after the Arbor Hill
fire in late spring have moved into the
apartment development.
Despite the fact that the Albany
Housing Authority's main office is lo-
cated within the project, there seems
tobea general lack of'facilities for the
residents.
In. 1965, a clinic which would have
provided total medical care for people
over 65 living in the neighborhood, was
planned for administration by the State
Health Department. For some reason
the project never got underway.
(to page 8)
SMALL PLAY AREAS follow the pattern at the Lincoln Park Homes
of having fewer families with children than at other projects. The chil-
dren say that they have to be quiet or their families will face eviction.
LINCOLN PARK HOMES -- one of Albany's newer high rise housing
projects situated at the east end of Lincoln Park caters primarily to
older people.
Mall Housing
Plans Unveiled
Plans for public housing which will
provide over 550 apartments in 8 build-
ings.in the.South Mall were presented
Monday by the Albany Housing Author-
ity. Bids for the entire project, which’
will cost around $10 million,
pected by late fall.
The plans indicate 2 seven story
structures for middle-income families,
the firstto be constructed by the Hous-
ing Authority in Albany. Five seven
story buildings will be for low-income
families and a 21 story structure was
designed specifically for elderly per-
sons.
Although space for community acti-
vities will be provided in each building,
the plans also show a one story com-
munity building to be connected to the
other buildings. In addition, according
toRobert M. Bender, executive direc-
tor of the Albany Housing Authority, the
plans contain special safety and con-
are ex-
‘venience features that would eliminate
problems that have arisen in other
housing developments.
Mr. Bender indicated that the rents
would most likely remain at the scale
presently used by the Housing Author-:
ity. Inthe caseof the low-income hous-
ing, a one bedroom apartment would
rent at a minimum of $52. The max--
if
| imum income for a single wage earner
| would be $4,464. The minimum rent
_ for a two bedroom apartment is $64.
The ne\ susing will also have ef-
ficiency apartments which do not exist |
in the present housing projects. The
rents and income scales for the middle
_income housing have not been set as
yet, according to Bender.
SOUTH MALL HOUSING mee for
eight buildings were presented this
week by the Albany Housing Authority.
The plans supposedly take into account
problems of other projects. |
RAT BREEDING PLACES like this shed behind a house on Wilso#St.
will come under attack in Albany and other New York State cities as a
result of Governor Rockefeller's state wide extermination program.
State Rat Extermination Announced
Children in Albany's South End and
in other underdeveloped areas have un-
usual playmates.
"Rats play hide-and-seek in the
streets with the kids, '' said a concerned
mother to Mrs. Olivia Rorie, former
president ofthe Better Homes and Com-
seat Organization. “
This may be one of the reasons that
Mayor Corning has announced that the
city of Albany will receive money from
Governor Rockefeller's- $6-million pro-
gram to exterminate rats in sevenmajor
New York cities. New York City will
receive the bulk of the money and Al-
bany's share willbe determined by pop-
ulation and extent of the program.
_ Albany has previously made an ef-
fort to control rats but the state funds
will enable Albany to expand its pro-
gram. Albanyrats are mainly destroy-
ed through poisoninthe sewers, instead
of the usual spot control. According to
the National Pest Control Association,
Albany has become the fourth city in the
country toundertake this type of exter-
mination.
- The city-wide program ofrat control
beganinthe spring when private exter-.
minator, Harry Linindoll, was con-
tracted by the city. According to Lin-
indoll, ''thousands'' of rats have been
killed.
Mr. Linindoll's firm is currently
working in the West End, having com-
Tele-Service
Wishes Good Luck to The Liberator
Furniture, TV, Appliances
Corner Arch & South Pearl St.
465-1481
pes banicaeureD
pleted projects inthe downtown and Ar-
bor Hill areas. Linindoll said that he
was paid $100 a day, but neither he nor
Jesse Parker, commissioner of public
works, revealed what the program cost
the city. ae
Dumps in the city will also be in-
_ cluded in an> extermination prof
Those on McCarthy Avenue, Livingston
_Avenue near Tivoli Lake and on Colonie : ,
Street have been named for rat control toe I
by Parker.
The state's rat population of 18 riatt<
lion flourishes in dumps, storage
areas, solid waste areas and any popu-
lated area.
The Albany County Health Depart-
ment investigates complaints ofrats and
recommends that property owners ex-
terminate rats.
The ''total war'' on rats announced
by the Governor will use $1. 5-million
immediately and another $4. 5-million
tobe allotted next year for a continuing
battle against rodents.
Put Your Trash Out
Saturday
Before 7 am
for
Free City
Removal
Albany Liberator August 10 4 eet
aie
Members of the Political Action
Committee of Troy, affiliated with the
Brothers of Albany, met Monday night
in special sessionto plan two new cam-
paigns and continue one that's already
underway.
The group held a regular meeting
Wednesday.
In the Monday night session, accord-
ing to a spokesman, PAC members
mapped out a drive to get the word out
on ''Welfare benefits"
and circulars.
'There are so many people who do
not know what benefits are available to
them,'' said the PAC office. ''They're
entitled to certain things, but no one
tells them what they are and we intend
to spread the word,"' he added.
via pamphlets
PAC also willtry to urge welfare of-_
ficials tohelpinform people about their
benefits. The spokesman said that the
pamphlets would be prepared and dis-
tributed within the next two weeks.
PAC members will also be trying to
establish closer contact with the resi-
dents intheir neighborhood. ''We intend
to go outand talk to more people,'' said
the "We'll go to their
homes and try to learn what their spe-
cific problems are, '!
The second campaign, also still in
the planning stages, will involve voting
spokesman.
tinued the PAC source. Direct contact
will also play a major role."
Meanwhile, the drive for improved
housing conditions goes on. ''We're try-
ing to let people know that anytime they
have a complaint they should call us
and letus know,'' said the PAC officer.
He pointed out real estaters Albert and
Kirsch have taken action on various
complaints filed with PAC.
"But, a couple of slumlords have ig-
nored our requests for housing im-
why is is necessary to vote, con- —
‘ing
provements,'' continued the PAC
spokesman, ''and we will have to in-
tensify our campaign. There are cer-
tain real estaters who have done no-
thing about our requests for pest con-
trol measures. They're the real ones
we'll have to get after.
ste ste ste ate sie sie ole oh
7 oe > * kx AE OE AE
Conference Organizer
(from page 1)
ville Institute onMan and Science, gave
Dr. Wright prolonged applause and
seemed to be generally friendly, al-
though there were a few hostile ques-
tions after the speech.
Some people present had apparently
received incorrect information about
the Newark Black Power Conference
from the newspapers. Dr. Wright told
the audience that it is not true that the
conference called for the existence of a
separate Black State or that the parti-
cipants were rude to reporters. He
said that although the press was unin-
vited and had made a nuisance of itself
throughout the conference, only a small
minerity of the people at the conference
were involved in breaking’up the so-
called ''news conference''
beensetup. Most delegates, he claim-:
ed, were extremely courteous anid tol-
erant ; throug bope.
a aa ae koe eK
eee a Se
(from page 6)
The fact that the Housing Authority
has included special items for the aged
in their plans for the South Mall build-
indicates the dissatisfaction with
conditions at Lincoln Park.
One of the conditions which the
Authorityhas not taken into considera-
tion for the new project is the height of ©
the building. Although it would seem
that older people would desire the sim-
“COLLEGE STUDENTS joined The Brothers and their families in
protesting the arrests of Sam McDowell and James Pryor. Support was
ing the arrests.
also recieved from faculty members who signed a statement challeng-
SEES RS ont ol rc Ren alg CE a NRA
‘first hurdle,
which had
Lincola Pork iomes ee
ing designed specifically for the elderly
willin' to give up his weekend. A man.
‘my way to the racetrack and a little
‘even though they're short on street —
I'm eventhinking 'bout making that ral-
"PAC Plans Welfare And Voting Drives | Arbor Mill Basebal vl
Strong pitching and good hitters are
the basis for the optimism of Reverend “i
George Poole, manager of the Arbor 4
‘Hill Little League champion, Poole's
Cleaners, as they await the startof the
City and County Tournament Monday.
Poole's Cleaners will face the win-
ners of the Pine Westland League ina
game tobe played at 6 pm in the Arbor
Hill Little League Park.
If the Arbor Hill team passes the
they will probably play
the second game Wednesday.
In other Arbor Hill baseball action,
the Optimists, Arbor Hill's Babe Ruth
champs, stood in a good position to
win the Albany Babe Ruth Round Robin
Tournament. 2 aes
The Optimists were the only wna
feated team in the tournament after
Ray Harris' no-hitter upset of the
strong Callanan team Tuesday.
Callanan, Whitehall's league titlest,
in turn defeated Vogels, Central's title ©
winner, Wednesday in an exciting 8-7
contest. In other tournament games
Vogels downed Kings on a no-hitter,
4-1, Tuesday and Kings slammed the
South End's Hi-Fidelity Wednesday by
a 12-7 count. ‘ =
Harris contributed his fifth heenee
run in post season games as he blank-
ed Callanan, 2-0. Bill O'Brien is the ©
likely starter for pied Seaesioo agains
Kings tonight. oo weuey
plest and most convenient access to
services and association with othets,
the South Mall plan of a 21 story build- —
would seem to increase the sense of
separation and isolation.
* Older people may find it depressing
tolive 21 stories from an outdoor park ~
bench and they may miss the sound of
the children, which a few at Lincoln
Park find annoying.
de He sk a KK KE KK
U. T. Hippie
(from page 3)
body so far gone over trash that he' S_
works all week, he got the right to ex-
pect a little relaxation come Saturday.
Least I know I don't let nothing get in
taste.
Don't get me wrong though, baby. ot
Behind allmy talk I still dig the Broth-
ers. Igotto admire their spirit, Jim--.
sense. Matter of fact, my feelings for |
the Movement being strong as they is--
ly scene. I can't decide just yet,
though...Ireckonit depends on who all |
they got performing.
RRR ORE RE
